


The Ghost in the Hallway

by kuro



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Like Seriously Slooooow Build, Misappropriation of Historical Sources, Misappropriation of Literature, Multi, Slow Build, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2017-11-25 08:14:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark has many enemies: supervillains trying to take over the earth, board members trying to block his ideas, business rivals trying to steal his inventions, one Steve Rogers trying to bring a resemblance of normalcy into his life. Tony Stark has learned to deal with his enemies. Or at least he thinks he does, until his newest enemy finds a very peculiar way of dealing with a personal grudge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another Enemy

When Tony Stark wobbled into the communal kitchen at Stark Tower at roughly seven o'clock in the morning, Steven Rogers was already there, eating breakfast. Tony wrinkled his nose at the sight. Steve, being the eternal boy scout that he was, had probably gotten up at some ungodly hour such as six o'clock and gone running for an hour before returning to the Tower and preparing his breakfast.

Not that Tony hadn't been awake at six o'clock as well, but that had been because he had never actually bothered to sleep. And the only reason why he had even found his way into the kitchen at this hour of the day had been a very close encounter with one of his welding burners while working on the newest improvements to his suit. After J.A.R.V.I.S.' repeated insistence, he had put down the burner and decided that maybe it wouldn't be _such_ a bad idea to actually ingest something (besides coffee) that would keep him from fainting and/or accidentally burning one of his extremities a little longer. He had gone over to the fridge located in one of the corners of his workshop and opened it. And then closed it again.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., I was not aware that we were doing biology experiments in there.”

J.A.R.V.I.S. hadn't bothered to reply to him. Tony knew very well that other than himself, only Pepper and Rhodey had free access to the workshop, and only Pepper had cared enough to keep the workshop fridge well-stocked and mould-free. Now that she was busy ruling over his company with an iron fist, she didn't have any free time for such minor things as making sure that his fridge did not develop a life of its own. He could try and teach Dummy how to clean the fridge, but he suspected that the mould would end up in one of his smoothies rather than not. Or maybe already had.

So he had given up on the idea of a clean, well-stocked fridge in his workshop and had decided not to argue with J.A.R.V.I.S. about it. (He would lose the argument anyway.) Seeing that Tony did not try to fight him for once, J.A.R.V.I.S. had suggested an alternative.

“Sir, you might want to try the fridge in the communal kitchen. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Banner are quite particular about keeping it well-stocked. I'm sure you will find something that will meet your approval in there.”

Tony sighed. He really did not want to leave the workshop, but his lack of sleep and extremely low blood sugar level started to get distracting enough that he decided he should at least resolve one of the two problems at hand before continuing with his work.

“Okay, okay, I'm going,” he said, moving over to the door. “J.A.R.V.I.S., finish the analysis until I'm back, and block access to all the dangerous tools. I really can't understand how you could let Dummy play with the welding iron last time, it's a miracle he didn't burn down the whole tower.”

“Understood, Sir”, J.A.R.V.I.S. calmly replied as he opened the door for Tony.

*

When Tony entered the kitchen, Steven looked up from his breakfast and smiled at the tired figure standing in the door frame.

“Hey, Tony, good to see you're still alive. We were already contemplating sending a rescue team to your workshop. Your machines haven't staged a rebellion against you yet?” he teased.

Tony pretended to be offended and pulled a face, but his tiny, shredded heart always skipped a beat when Steve bantered with him. When he had finally realised that his childhood hero really _was_ a disgustingly good person, and also possessed a considerable amount of wit and humour, he had fallen for him so hard and fast there must still be bruises on his knees. It was rather pathetic, the Great Genius Tony Stark pining after a man – after his friend – like a teenage girl.

Tony shook his head. He hoped Steve would never find out how Tony felt about him. They had finally managed to work out a more or less functioning partnership in the field, and a slowly growing friendship in private, and Tony wanted to keep this balance at all costs. People might call him egoistic and impudent, and he knew very well about his tendency to fuck things up, but he really _really_ didn't want to fuck things up this time. He wanted this friendship almost as badly as he had wanted his father's recognition. Okay, _that_ was a really bad train of thought. Abort, abort.

Ignoring Steve's question, Tony blearily stumbled to the fridge, and opened it to stare inside. As J.A.R.V.I.S. had promised, it was filled with an astonishing variety of foods. What even was this round, yellowish-brown, spiky thing over there?

“Are you looking for breakfast?” a voice immediately behind him asked.

He spun around, only to be assaulted with the sight of Steve's glorious body within touching distance. Maybe he didn't need any breakfast after all, he already felt his blood pressure rise just by standing in Steve's vicinity.

“I made too much breakfast, maybe you want some?” Steve asked with a faint blush and a shy expression on his face.

Faker, Tony thought. It was a brazen-faced lie that Steve had made too much breakfast. People with a metabolism like Capitan America's did _not_ make too much breakfast, ever. Tony had seen what the guy could eat, and if Steve didn't have such impeccable table manners, Tony would have been sent screaming from the table the first time he had witnessed it.

But Tony also couldn't help himself being stupidly happy about the fact that Steve – CAPTAIN AMERICA – offered him some of his home made breakfast. The rest of his already grossly undersized self-control was swept away, and he had already nodded consent before he even knew he was doing it. Steve only smiled brightly and busied himself with pans and plates.

*

Almost as soon as Tony had sat down at the table, a plate, some cutlery, and a glass magically appeared in front of him. Or maybe it had been Steve, but he was so tired he was kind of past caring at this point. Then breakfast arrived, and he kept staring at the food on the plate in front of him, trying to will his brain to remember what he was supposed to do. Something poked him into the shoulder, and he slowly turned his head. Oh, what a lovely chest.

“Up here, Tony,” Steve said. Tony's eyes wandered upstairs until they met Steve's strikingly blue ones. There was a slightly mischievous spark in his eyes, and he seemed genuinely amused.

“You should eat,” Steve suggested with a smile, and poked him again.

“Are you laughing at me, Capsicle?” Tony grumbled.

Steve's smile only widened. He had long gotten used to Tony calling him all kinds of silly names, and didn't rise to the bait any more. Kind of a pity, Tony thought. Friendly Steve was his preferred version, of course, but the intensity of Angry Steve was quite a sight to behold.

“Now why would I laugh at you?” Steve asked innocently, clearly laughing at him.

*

While Tony was still struggling to come up with a snarky reply, Natasha entered the kitchen.

“Good Morning, Natasha!” Steve beamed at her. Natasha greeted him back with the usual blank expression (that frankly scared the shit out of Tony) on her face, and then continued to stare at Tony, until he finally mumbled a “Good Morning” as well.

“Have you finally figured out how to unlock your workshop door?” she needled.

“No wonder I never leave my workshop, with all these rude people loitering around my place,” Tony complained.

“You're just such a convenient victim,” Natasha replied, her voice dripping with sneer. She went to the fridge and started taking out all the disgustingly healthy foodstuffs that Tony usually avoided at all costs. It was probably an assassin thing, Tony guessed, she had to always be at the top of her game to be able to strangle the bad guys with her thighs without breaking a sweat. Not that he would ever dare to ask her about it, he was rather fond of his own neck.

Tony then realised that he had been so distracted thinking about Natasha's eating habits that he had forgotten to reply to her insult with an appropriate response (another insult, of course). He had food now, so all that was left was a nice, large helping of coffee that would get his brain up and running again.

Clint chose exactly that moment to flounce into the kitchen and hog the coffee machine without decorum. Tony's coffee machine. Tony's incredibly expensive, one-of-a-kind coffee machine that he needed _right this moment_. He looked daggers at Clint's back, but the bastard didn't care one tiny bit. Steve chuckled somewhere next to him.

“You can stop that right now, Tony, it's not like you're getting any coffee today,” he stated calmly. Tony jerked his head towards Steve, eyes wide with shock. All his tiredness had immediately disappeared.

“Am I hearing this right? Are you really trying to ban me from _my_ coffee machine in _my_ house?” he gaped. “Have you gone full throttle villain overlord now?”

Tony tried to stand up and reclaim his coffee machine, but Steve reached out and easily pushed him back into his seat with a single hand.

“Finish your food,” he said, “and I'm completely serious, no coffee for you today. You are in urgent need of a few hours of sleep, and you _will_ go to bed after breakfast.”

“No I won't,” Tony replied, wincing internally at how petulant he sounded. “You may think you're the boss in the house now, Captain, but you're not telling me what I will and won't do.”

Steve sighed.

“If you were able to actually sleep and eat on a regular schedule without someone forcing you, Tony, I wouldn't have to play the villain overlord at all. It was you guys that decided I should be the leader of this team, now don't be surprised if I actually try to take care of it,” he calmly stated.

Tony gritted his teeth. Of course, from an objective point of view, he understood Steve's need to make sure his team was healthy and prepared for whatever shit the villain of the week was throwing at their face this time. Steve took his responsibility as their leader very seriously, and Tony himself tended to be the most irresponsible person out of all of them, so it was not surprising that Steve ended up motherhenning Tony rather often. Still, he couldn't help but be annoyed about it. Even after their friendship had started blossoming, and even after Tony had fallen for the blasted blonde boyscout, nothing managed to rise Tony's hackles as fast as Steve ordering him around did.

Steve knew that very well and usually tried to avoid pressuring Tony too much. Tony guessed it must have something to do with being a decent person, because Steve could easily bully him into doing anything, if he wanted. Instead, he used his seemingly immeasurable amount of patience to convince Tony of what he believed was the right thing. Tony was positive that Steve had been taking yoga lessons or something from Bruce, although he still lacked any proof. He had ordered J.A.R.V.I.S to report any suspicious activities, but he hadn't had any luck yet.

Today, however, Steve seemed to be unusually bossy. Because they had gotten into fewer arguments recently, Tony had started to think that he had successfully “educated” Steve, but apparently, he had been mistaken. The constant fighting was one of the major bumps in their friendship, and Tony knew that Steve would prefer if they could stop doing it at all. Tony, however, thrived on arguments, and any other day, he would have been up for the fight that usually followed one of Steve's attempts at ordering him around. Yet today, he somehow lacked the energy to get truly angry. He refused to think that it was because he was seriously sleep deprived and actually getting fed decent food by Steve.

“Cap, you're not a team leader, you are a mother hen,” he said while rolling his eyes, “and I still do better work while being severely sleep deprived than others do while being perfectly rested, so don't tell me what I can and can't.”

Steve's eyes bored into his with a hard, steely gaze. Tony could see that he was biting back a harsh response. They both knew better than getting into another fight right now. They also both knew that Tony was Tony, and that meant irresponsible. They also both knew that Steve was Steve, and that meant responsible. Tony suddenly felt the urge to laugh out loud. Look at us, he wanted to say, each the antithesis of the other. And I'm so completely and utterly in love with you, and yet all I can do is fight you.

Steve finally blinked, turned his head, and sighed heavily. (Where had he heard that whenever someone sighed, that person would lose happiness?)

“Stark, stop being a giant throbbing dick and listen to Cap once in a while.”

Apparently, thanks to _Tony's_ coffee, Clint had finally gotten his brain up and running. He was leaning on the kitchen counter, looking at Steve and Tony with a similarly blank expression as the one Natasha usually had on her face. Natasha herself was standing next to him, still preparing her breakfast. She had her back turned to them, but somehow she still managed to express her agreement with what Clint had said without saying a word.

“Gang up on me, will you now,” Tony complained without heat, “what happened to 'don't bite the hand that feeds you'? In case you haven't realised, your standing in _my_ tower, eating _my_ food and drinking _my_ coffee. Would you like me to revoke a few of your privileges?”

Clint just snorted. He seemed to be the type that bit the hand that fed him often and passionately, the jerk.

“Stark,” Natasha said without turning around. “Just because we are taking advantage of you paying our bills, it doesn't mean that we wouldn't be able to get by without you. You tend to forget that we already had a life before you invited us into your tower.”

This time, it was Tony's turn to snort.

“You call that dingy room on the helicarrier a life? Or Cap's we-stole-the-interior-from-a-museum apartment? You have to be kidding me!” he groused while stuffing the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth. Arguing with Steve didn't mean he wouldn't eat his surprisingly tasty food.

Natasha didn't respond to his complaining (she usually didn't) and kept on mauling one of the fruits she was preparing for her breakfast. Clint was sipping his coffee, still leaning on the kitchen counter, careful to keep out of the immediate range of Natasha's knife. So of course it was Steve, the model boy, that answered sincerely.

“I'm going to ignore the insults about my former living quarters for a moment here, but honestly Tony, are you implying we're staying here because we wanted to life the fancy life at your expense?” he asked. “I think we have made the wrong career choices then.”

“Speak for yourself, Cap,” Clint quipped. “As far as I'm concerned, I'm here for the big ass television.”

“Clint, my man,” Tony jokingly responded. “At least one honest person here. But you're a disgracefully cheap date if all it took to get you was one measly TV. I could build you a better one in no time.”

Clint's eyes glazed over a little bit, and you could already see him making a mental list of all the features he wanted integrated in his new TV, but Steve interrupted him.

“Clint, no. Tony is going to sleep now that he has finished his food, he doesn't need any additional excitement before sleep.”

Clint made a pouty face, but didn't disagree with him. No doubt he would continue making the list and bother Tony with it as soon as he could corner him without having a disapproving Captain America glare directed towards him.

Steve got out of his chair, and put both his and Tony's dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Then, before Tony had a chance to sneak out of the kitchen and flee to his workshop (and lock anyone else out), Steve turned around and levelled Tony with another stern Captain America glare. It really should be trademarked, Tony thought.

“Tony, you're going to bed _now_ ,” Steve said in his Captain America voice. “And if you don't go voluntarily, I will make you.”

Tony had to bite back any comment on this, so he just suggestively raised an eyebrow, turned towards the door, and flounced out. It didn't escape him, however, that Steve was blushing rather furiously as he did so.


	2. The Naked Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finally managed to talk Tony into getting some much-needed sleep, but of course that is when things start going wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I accidentally Bruce. I wasn't planning on this, so I hope you don't mind. Natasha will be probably next, since I have really neglected her until now. I just have a lot of feels for all of them, sorry.
> 
> On another note, I changed the rating to "Mature". The evil side of my mind is feeling rather inspired right now, so I expect quite a bit of suffering for my babies. (Why am I actually doing this?) 
> 
> Also, if you find any mistakes or have any complaints or just feel talkative in general, drop me a line. I'm always happy to receive some feedback.

When Tony awoke with a start in the half-lit dimness of his room, he thought at first that he had had another nightmare about Afghanistan. Ever since his little three-month vacation in that not very accommodating terrorist camp in Afghanistan, he was on intimate terms with the feeling of being asphyxiated when waking up. This time, however, the feeling didn't stop once he woke. Instead, it seemed to be getting worse.

Tony desperately tried to take a breath. He chocked and gagged, but to now avail, he could neither breathe in nor breathe out. Teetering on the brink of panic, he tried to get out of the bed, but he only managed to tangle himself in his bed sheets. No matter what he tried, he was suffocating, and his vision already started to get dark around the edges. In the background, he could hear J.A.R.V.I.S calling for him, asking him what was wrong, but he couldn't answer. He just kept chocking on whatever was blocking his breath. J.A.R.V.I.S then seemed to decide that something was seriously wrong, because he ceased calling, and instead turned on the full lights in the room.

A few moments later, he could already hear someone running along the hallway outside his room, and then his door was slammed open, and Steve stormed in. If he was surprised at finding Tony tangled in the sheets of his bed, choking for no apparent reason, he didn't show it. Without hesitation, he went up to his bed, grabbed Tony's hands and talked to him in a calm voice.

“Shh, Tony, calm down, everything is okay. Take a deep breath.”

Tony glared at him weakly, hoping he was able to convey what he thought of Steve's suggestion, but he tried to breathe in anyway – and amazingly, it worked.

*

A little while later all of the Avengers (except Thor, who was still in Asgard) gathered around the kitchen table. After Tony had calmed down and didn't seem to be in immediate danger of death by asphyxiation, Steve had decided that this incident requested for an emergency meeting. They all looked rather sleepy – all of them except Tony. When Steve had finally managed to send him to bed in the early morning, his exhaustion had caught up with him with a revenge, and he had slept through the whole day and the following evening. Now, at three o'clock in the morning, he felt well-rested despite the strange thing that had just happened. The only other one who seemed to be rather lively was Clint, who couldn't stop giggling. Tony glared at him with what he hoped was his most evil glare. Clint apparently found this even funnier, and started shaking so hard he looked like he would fall off his chair any moment (not that he would, ever).

“Come on, Tony, don't tell me that wasn't the funniest thing ever! I should have taken a photo!”

Steve, who had been blushing the whole time, blushed an even darker shade of red. When J.A.R.V.I.S had alerted the other Avengers that something was wrong with Tony, Steve had rushed to Tony's room only clad in his boxer shorts. Tony, on the other hand, had the habit of sleeping naked, so when the rest of the crew stormed into his room a few moments after Steve had managed to calm Tony down, they had been confronted by a rather unambiguous tableau. According to the other Avengers, rather than Steve helping him, it looked more like he was... assaulting him. Not that Tony minded if he really did. But he still felt thrown off balance about what had just happened, and also rather embarrassed that Steve had seen him like that, so for once, he didn't feel like poking at Steve and making him blush.

A heavy sigh came from the other side of the table. Ignoring Clint, Bruce looked at Tony with serious eyes.

“Tony, please tell us what just happened,” he gently said.

Tony closed his eyes and bit his lip. He really didn't want to talk about any of it. If he did, they would undoubtedly want to know about his nightmares and Afghanistan.

“Brucie-bear, I'm completely fine, nothing happened, don't worry your pretty head,” he said with false bravado.

“You really don't look like 'nothing happened', Tony,” Steve interjected, finally returning to his usual skin colour now that they had started talking business, and handed Tony a mirror before he could respond.

Tony wondered why Steve was handing him a mirror. He _was_ vain, but maybe not quite _that_ vain. On the other hand, he knew that Steve was certainly not trying to flatter his already grossly inflated ego, so he just took a look into the mirror. Just when he wanted to complain to Steve that he didn't understand why he had handed him a mirror, he saw them.

They weren't very visible just yet, but they were steadily growing darker, and it was rather obvious what they meant. The bruises on his neck formed two hands, positioned exactly as if someone had tried to strangle him.

*

J.A.R.V.I.S broke the tense silence that followed.

“Mr. Rogers, if you don't mind me?” he asked.

“Please go ahead, J.A.R.V.I.S,” Steve answered, looking up to the ceiling as he always did when talking with J.A.R.V.I.S. Tony frowned. He knew that J.A.R.V.I.S wouldn't speak about certain things without having his explicit permission, but that didn't mean he liked letting him speak on his behalf. But probably, it was better to just leave the explanation to J.A.R.V.I.S, since his explanations tended to be clear and to the point, as opposed to Tony's.

“Master was sleeping calmly just before the incident. I could not find any cause that would suddenly have him start choking. The marks on his neck suggest outside influence, but according to my data, Mr. Stark was the only one in his room at the time, and I can say with certainty that it wasn't himself that put these marks there,” J.A.R.V.I.S stated in his usual calm and neutral voice.

“Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S,” Steve thoughtfully replied. “So, in case J.A.R.V.I.S' readings were correct,” Tony lifted an eyebrow at that, and Steve hurriedly continued on, “and there really was nobody in the room besides Tony... does it sound stupid when I say 'ghost'?”

He looked kind of embarrassed at that, but Bruce made a serious face.

“At this moment, we don't have any evidence other than someone or something tried to strangle Tony,” he said, “and none of us have found any indication that this someone or something had been in Tony's room when it happened. Considering all the things we have encountered on our job already, everything could be possible, and you could be right, Cap, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet.”

“Why are you guys taking this so seriously?” Tony interrupted Bruce. “I mean really, nothing happened, so all's fine, right?”

Bruce looked at him with his 'Tony-you're-being-astonishingly-stupid-right-now' face.

“Nothing is fine, Tony,” he finally replied. “First of all, something strange that none of us can explain has just happened. And don't interrupt me again, Tony, I now you hate stuff that you can't explain, so don't try to play it down. Second, we don't know if this was a singular occurrence, or if it will happen again. What will happen when the next time, the help comes too late? Or if trying to help doesn't work? Third, if this is not a single occurrence, was it coincidence or intent that you were the victim this time? Fourth, who knows whether you were meant to be the only victim or not?”

Tony stayed quiet at that. Of course, Bruce was right. Had this attack really been directed at him? Or at someone else? At all of them? The Avengers had enough enemies that would gladly see them suffer and die in the worst ways possible. Tony smiled at himself. 'It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you', huh.

*

Since they didn't really have much to go on, they decided that as a logical first step, they should do some research and try to find as much useful information as possible. Which was really easier said than done.

“Where do you find reliable information about these kind of things? Don't tell me you want us to go over all that shady literature about ghost apparitions and similar crap?” Clint asked, frowning. Tony had a similar displeased expression on his face, and Steve didn't look very happy either. Only Natasha was as expressionless as ever.

Bruce sighed. He was a scientist by nature, but ever since his first meeting with the Other Guy, he had tried out all kinds of things that could help him with with his 'anger management problems'. Some of the visualisation and meditation techniques that he had tried were based on certain spiritual or religious ideas, so over time, he had amassed this knowledge, even though he didn't really think much of it.

The others, however... Tony hated anything even remotely unscientific, and he especially hated anything that smelled of _magic_. Clint was as crude and as distanced from spirituality as people possibly could get. Natasha was very... Russian about these kinds of things. And Steve was a realist and tactician down to the bone. He was an artist, and and had had a catholic upbringing, but he was more interested in reality, in the people and things surrounding him. That was were he drew inspiration and motivation from, and he didn't really have any mind for invisible things that were difficult to grasp. Of all the people sitting in this room, Bruce probably knew the most about 'unusual phenomena', which he found rather amusing.

“Don't worry, Clint, I don't think you will have to,” he said with a smile. “I might have some ideas where to start, so you and Natasha should maybe try S.H.I.E.L.D. And, while you're at it, do you think you might be able to contact Thor? I'm not sure he is able to help out here, but it won't hurt trying.” Natasha and Clint both nodded in assent, and Bruce continued on, “Tony, I don't think I need to tell you what to do, you would do it even without me asking. Steve, I think it would be best if you, as our team leader, collect all the information we find, and keep everyone on the same page.”

Steve frowned at the table and opened is mouth, as if to say something along the lines of 'As your team leader, I should...', but then his face took on a slightly surprised expression. He raised his eyes from the table, looked at Bruce for confirmation, and nodded assent. Bruce might hold the military in very low esteem, and Steve might have been part of that same military at some point in time, but it couldn't be denied that he had a brilliant and fast mind. In certain areas. Bruce tried not to grin at that thought.

“Candy cane, have I missed something?” Tony butted in while grinning at Bruce mischievously. “Are you trying to dethrone Captain Bossypants here to satisfy your new-found hunger for power? You should fear for your life, he won't let you.”

Tony had apparently missed the real point of Bruce's instructions and his wordless exchange with Steve, but Bruce still laughed, while Steve sighed and Clint and Natasha rolled their eyes. As difficult as Tony was sometimes (most of the time), he never handled you with kid gloves, a fact that made Bruce immeasurably grateful. Most people were extremely careful around him, which actually made him more irritable rather than helping him calm down.

The other Avengers had seemed worried about the two at first, when Tony had suddenly appeared in the kitchen or the living room and started bothering Bruce, whining about failed experiments to his 'science bro' and chewing his ears off about this or that. Bruce himself was not quite sure sometimes if Tony was trying to make him hulk out or not, but looking at Tony, he couldn't help being reminded of a puppy demanding attention and the occasional pat on the head, so he never got truly annoyed by his actions. After a while, the other Avengers had accepted their strange relationship, and they had also stopped walking on eggshells around him.

Bruce shook his head to dissipate his sentimental thoughts, and rose from his chair. They were on a mission, and they were pressed for time.

“So I guess since we decided on our next steps, we should put the word into action?” he said. “If you excuse me, I think I have some phone calls to make.”

Clint and Natasha also rose from their seats in one fluid movement, and the three of them filed out of the kitchen.

*

After the three others had left the kitchen, Tony also got up from his chair, and walked over to the coffee machine. For once, he guessed, Steve couldn't scold him for drinking coffee in the middle of the night. He made himself an extra large mug of extra black coffee, and then turned around to take his black gold down to the workshop and start poking at the internet and hack into every secret database that looked even remotely promising. When he passed Steve, who was still sitting at the table, Steve got up and tagged along behind him.

Tony stopped. Steve stopped behind him. Tony turned around. Steve took out his puppy eyes and looked at him in a 'please-don't-abandon-me' kind of way. Tony gritted his teeth.

“Bruce, you god-damn schemer,” he grumbled, “'Keep everyone on the same page', my ass. I'm going to make you regret that, you just wait.”

He didn't, however, try to stop Steve when they entered the elevator to go down to the workshop, and he also didn't stop him when they entered his workshop. If the sight of Steve wandering through his workshop wide-eyed, marvelling at his old and new suits and playing around with Dummy, made his heart swell a little bit, well, then that would be his secret.

And Tony would deny until his dying day that Steve being right here at his side like a human shield had _anything_ to do with the fact that he finally stopped feeling exposed like a raw nerve. He sat down, placed the coffee next to him, and then he and J.A.R.V.I.S went on the hunt.


	3. In the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to find out what it was that has attacked Tony, the team splits up. Clint and Natasha head over to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, Bruce goes off to make some phone calls, and Tony and Steve head down into Tony's workshop to look for clues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are actually some people who read and like this, which is really surprising... but nice. Thank you. 
> 
> I was struggling a bit with this chapter, so any kind of input is welcome. :)

When Clint and Natasha arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, Natasha could feel Clint tensing up next to her. She didn't comment on it, but she kept her eyes on him. After the whole Loki incident, Clint might have been officially absolved of his crimes, but the other agents kept their distance even more than before. She would never admit this in front of Tony, but she had been relieved when Tony had suddenly announced that each of the Avengers had their own room in Stark Tower they were free to use.

Of course, Tony had played it down and made a joke out of it, but Natasha had already seen through him and his brash words. He was the type to cloak the truth in a tightly woven veil of lies and meaningless words. And the truth was, Tony was, for all of his money, fame, and genius, a desperately lonely man.

Clint had been fast to agree to her suggestion to take up Tony's offer, and they had moved into the Tower soon after. Or rather, they had come over one day pretending to have some business with Tony, and then simply never left.

Ever since the incident, Clint had been keyed up as long as they had lived in S.H.I.E.L.D quarters, and the move to the Tower had finally helped him unwind. It wasn't just because of the fact that they finally had big, private rooms with comfortable beds and a spacious and clean bathroom. It had also been the new company, people who didn't – couldn't? – point fingers. After Natasha (and later J.A.R.V.I.S, on Clint's request) had confirmed that Clint really was completely free of any possibly mind-altering magic, none of the Avengers had held what had happened against him.

The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D weren't quite as ready to forgive. Of course, they were too professional to openly blame him, but Clint had always been one of S.H.I.E.L.D's problem children, and almost killing all of them while being mind-controlled by a whiny Asgardian god with tremendous father issues didn't help his case. He might be a jerk sometimes, but he was still sensitive enough that the self-blame and the tension had started getting to him. Even now that he lived in the Tower, he seemed to get uncomfortable anywhere close to a S.H.I.E.L.D facility.

Clint automatically headed into the direction of Coulson's office, and Natasha had to suppress a smile. Whenever something happened, Clint would always look for Coulson first. When Natasha had met Clint the first time, he had already been working for S.H.I.E.L.D for quite a while, and he had also already managed to alienate most of his fellow agents. He might follow Fury's direct orders, but he constantly clashed with all the others (and in particular with Maria Hill). The only exemption from this rule was Phil Coulson. He was the only one Clint truly listened to, and he also was the only one that unerringly had Clint's back. She knew that something had happened when the two had met for the first time, but they never spoke about it, and all of the reports she had looked through were conspicuously lacking in that area, as well.

They arrived at Coulson's door, and Clint knocked. After a moment of waiting, an answer came.

“Come in.”

Clint opened the door, and the two of them stepped into Coulson's office. Coulson was sitting at his desk, almost buried in forms and reports. He glanced at the two of them entering, and a frown appeared on his face. His head turned towards Natasha.

“Who got himself into difficulties now, and what do I have to do?”, he asked her. Then he turned towards Clint, and fixed him with a hard look. “If it's you again, be prepared for some remedial lessons.”

Clint lifted his arms in a defensive gesture, but Natasha spoke before he could open his mouth.

“No, it's Stark, of course,” she said. “He got himself into real trouble this time...”

*

Tony was, as usual, completely immersed into digging and hacking his way through the world wide web (and some places that weren't supposed to be part of said web). His coffee had disappeared at some point in time, but he couldn't remember if he had drunk it or if Dummy had stolen it to do god knows what with his precious brew.

It was only coincidence, a second of coming up to the surface before diving down even deeper, that he realised that Steve was standing next to him, studying him with a serious expression on his face.

“...what?” he asked defensively, asking himself what he had done wrong this time.

Steve's expression softened a little and became slightly sad.

“I just wanted... I just wanted to apologise,” he began, “if not for my insistence-”

“Ah ah ah,” Tony interrupted him loudly, pointing his finger towards Steve, just like he did with Dummy when the bot was doing something exceptionally stupid. “No, we are NOT going to do this, no, no, no. You are not going to say that, and I'm not going to stop talking before you give up, believe me, I have years and years of training, you have no chance, Pepper trained me, I am a master of talking people into the ground, and I don't want to hear anything, you hear me, ANYTHING, listen to your resident genius, I'm so much... mmph!”

“Tony, shut up,” Steve laughed, while silencing Tony's blabbering with the help of one of his big (but surprisingly soft, Tony's brain unhelpfully supplied) hands. Then he became serious again. Tony was really, really bad at dealing with serious, but Steve had basically immobilised him and strategically kept his hand over Tony's mouth, so he couldn't help but sit there and listen to Steve.

“I know you hate it when people apologise to you, and I now you like to throw words at people until they get annoyed and shut up, but that doesn't stop me from feeling guilty, and wanting to apologise to you. I also know that you hate it when I _make_ you listen to me like I do right now, and you always get overly dramatic afterwards, but we can't have it your way all the time, Tony. You have issues with apologising? Well, I have issues with not apologising, and I'd like you to respect my side of the problem, too. Are we clear?”

Tony could really do nothing but nod like a second grader who just got scolded by his teacher. He suddenly felt very childish, and small. He turned towards the computer terminal and blankly stared at it for a minute. Then he gathered himself.

“On another note, I think I found something,” he quietly said.

Steve rolled his eyes, but he didn't force the issue any further and bent over Tony's shoulder to take a look at his discovery.

*

Coulson listened to Natasha's report with a serious expression, and didn't interrupt her. Due to the nature of their job, all of them had become used to the constant exposure to danger, and had learned to live with sleeping with one eye open (and a gun under the pillow). But they usually dealt with things such as espionage and terrorism, concrete threats that they could eliminate with concrete measures such as bullets or knives. Something invisible and intangible was the exact opposite of what they were good at dealing with. It didn't help that they had absolutely no clues to work on other than finger-shaped bruises on Tony Stark's neck.

“Banner said he would make some phone calls, and I think the Captain and Stark are in Stark's workshop now, doing some research,” Natasha finished. Coulson nodded, but he was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall behind Natasha's back.

“I don't think S.H.I.E.L.D has ever dealt with anything similar, but I will take a look at our records anyway,” he said after some consideration. “Romanoff, you will inform Fury about this, and ask him to make contact with Thor. I think Bruce is right, and he won't be able to help with this situation, but since we don't know if this was the main act or only the prelude, I want him here.”

Natasha nodded, and immediately left the room without looking back.

*

When Natasha walked towards Fury's office, Maria Hill was already waiting for her, leaning against the wall of the corridor with folded arms. She had probably been informed of Natasha and Clint's presence as soon as they had set foot into headquarters, and gone on the hunt. Just like Coulson, she didn't bother with a greeting or anything else, but immediately cut to the chase.

“What did you guys screw up this time?” she asked, annoyance in her voice.

Natasha kept her usual blank expression fixed on her face, and didn't reply. Hill would be informed by Fury soon enough, if she needed to be informed. Hill made an unhappy face, but didn't try to dig any further. She knew better than that.

“You're more trouble than you're worth,” she shot. Hill had never been in favour of the Avengers Initiative, and even after the Avengers had proved that they were up to the job, she kept an ambivalent stance. One particularly brave agent had asked Natasha at one point why she and Hill weren't 'best friends, since you two are women, and really similar, after all'. Natasha had only smiled. From an outward perspective, she and Hill might have quite a few similarities. But apart from that... they were nothing alike, as one Clint Barton proved time and time again.

She ignored Hill's glowering, and stepped into Fury's office.

*

“But isn't this just fiction?” Steve asked, a deep crease between his eyebrows. “I mean, this is a novel that was written over a thousand years ago.”

“Yes, this particular story here is fiction, but people have believed these things for centuries,” Tony more or less patiently explained. “And as things have turned out with Thor, I'm starting to get reluctant to just dismiss things on the basis of them being implausible.” He shook his head and made an unhappy face. “Ugh, I can't believe I just said that. I'm a scientist, dammit, I'm all about possibilities and laws of nature and _this is simply not right_.” He made a frustrated sound. Did he already mention he hated everything remotely magical? With the exception of Thor, Thor was all right. When he didn't try to smash your face with his hammer. Ugh, no wrong choice of words.

Steve lightly patted Tony's shoulder.

“You do remember you're speaking with the grandpa? For me, even the things _you_ do seem like magic.”

Tony turned his head towards Steve. Steve was smiling down at him with a mischievous spark in his eyes that seemed to appear more and more often recently. Tony couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Steve still felt comfortable enough to joke with him. He had been seriously worried that the incident just now had been the final straw. Steve never really displayed aggressive behaviour even in the field, and what he had done just now was rather uncharacteristic. He had neither hurt Tony when he had silenced him, nor gripped so hard that Tony would have been unable to defend himself, but the very fact that he had done it had shown that the whole situation was getting to him.

“I'm sorry.”

It took Tony a moment to realise that he had just said that aloud. Steve's smile slid off his face, and was replaced by a rather weary look. He didn't even try to pretend not to understand what Tony was talking about.

“It's okay, Tony,” he gently said. “That wasn't right of me, either.” He hesitated for a moment, apparently unsure whether he should continue or not. “You constantly challenge me, and drive me up the walls,” he finally continued, and chuckled at Tony's probably shocked expression. “It's not so bad, you know. You never let me get away with being stubborn. You always remind me that there are different options when I get tunnel vision. Now,” and Tony could see his expression shift from Steve Rogers to Captain America, “explain me exactly why you think this story has anything to do with the incident.”

Tony was glad that Steve didn't seem to expect him to reply to what he just had said. Tony and talking about his feelings, it really was a terrible combination. He would have screwed this up so badly. Like, Steve never wanting to speak to him again badly. Instead, he straightened his back and started to explain.

“Okay, the whole story is rather long, who am I kidding, it's _way_ too long, and we're not really interested in everything. There is one particular story arc that caught my attention. It's about a woman that is commonly called Lady Rokujō, although I don't think that's her real name. Anyway, this woman is the lover of the main character, Prince Genji. That's where it gets complicated. Lady Rokujō is not the only lover that he has, but he actually has several lovers as well as a wife. Several wives? Can't remember. That's apparently how they rolled in these days,” he grinned at Steve's discontent face, “and as life goes, he starts losing interest in her after a while. She is unhappy, but she's a very high-ranking aristocrat, and therefore way too proud to show it. At some kind of procession or festival or something, she is publicly humiliated by Genji's wife, Aoi. Then things start to get out of control. Lady Rokujō is angry about the humiliation, especially since it was the wife of her former lover that humiliated her. But she is too proud and doesn't want to lose her face, so she doesn't do anything about it. Her anger and jealousy can't rest, however, and at some point her soul starts leaving her body when she sleeps at night, and goes after Genji's wife and lovers. If I've understood everything correctly, she actually manages to kill Genji's wife Aoi as well as one of his lovers in her 'ghost form'. The catch is, she doesn't even know she's doing it. She thinks she's successfully suppressed her anger, but it's only that it has found a different outlet.” 

Steve was completely quiet after that explanation. Tony grinned at him, but it gave him a slightly bitter taste in his mouth.

“You're allowed to say that being a slut will bite you in the ass in the end,” he jokingly said.

Steve glared at him.

“I know what you're implying here, Mr. 'Genius Billionaire _Playboy_ Philanthropist',” Steve replied. “But that's not what I was thinking about. What happened in the end?”

“I think she died, but couldn't rest, and her spirit returned to continue badgering Genji's lovers,” Tony simply replied, waving his hands around. “I haven't finished looking through all of the stuff yet.”

“Now that's reassuring,” Steve said with a sigh, “A woman with a grudge that can't remember that she murdered her love rivals in her sleep, and instead of properly dying she returns as a spirit to continue what she was doing? That's exactly what I was hoping to hear.”

Tony laughed.

“I'm starting to rub off on you,” he said with a sly grin.

Steve blushed slightly, because apparently Tony was really starting to rub off on him (and oh, how Tony would love to _rub off_ on him).

“Gentlemen, if I may pause you there,” J.A.R.V.I.S interrupted with his usual impeccable timing, “Mr. Banner is requesting your presence. I believe he has brought a guest that might help us with the current problem.”

Tony made a face, but he turned away from the terminal and stood up.

“Well then, let's go and see who Bruce-a-licious managed to pick up. Hopefully not one of his crazy science buddies,” he said. “J.A.R.V.I.S, be a good boy and save the stuff we were looking at just now. And no, Dummy, I told you not to leave the workshop. I know you've been stealing my coffee, you're not allowed anywhere near my kitchen.”

“ _Your_ kitchen,” Steve quietly snorted behind his back as he was patting Dummy good-bye. Tony turned around and glared at the two.

“Excuse me? Didn't we just have this discussion yesterday, I am graciously-” Tony started, but Steve interrupted him.

“Yes, yes, we know, the Great Tony Stark, providing us with shelter, et cetera,” he grinned. “But the only thing in the kitchen you ever touch is the coffee machine, so even if you own it, it's not really _your_ kitchen.”

“I believe Mr. Rogers is absolutely correct in his assessment, Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S supplied.

“Bunch of traitors,” Tony grumbled huffily, already hurrying towards the elevators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I stole some ideas for this story from other places. This chapter contains a summary of one of the story arcs of "The Tale of Genji", a very long story written by a Japanese aristocrat commonly called Murasaki Shikibu more than a thousand years ago. If you're interested, google it, I'm sure you will find tons and tons of information about it. It's basically one of the most famous works of Japanese literature ever.
> 
> Please note, however, that for my own fun I might be deliberately vague or even mix in things that came from my own imagination rather than an original source. Do not take anything I write here at face value, you make my life easier with that. :)


	4. A Strange Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony meet Bruce's mysterious guest, while Natasha and Clint are still hanging around S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, waiting for Thor. Coulson probably does not get paid enough for this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a terrible sense of humor, I know. I'm also a terrible slacker (sorry). And I have my strange little headcanons, especially where Dr. Strange is concerned.

“Bruce, my busy bee, I heard you had something – someone – for me?” Tony said by way of greeting as he entered the living room, closely followed by Steve. Bruce, standing in the middle of the living room, turned around and responded with one of his usual smiles, a little lopsided and somehow insecure. He motioned his hand towards the man standing next to him.

“I was thinking he might be able to help you. Tony, Steve, this is Dr. Stephen Strange, a master of the mystic arts. Dr. Strange, these are Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, also known as Iron Man and Captain America,” Bruce said.

Tony stared at the visitor for a short while. A master of the mystic arts. Uh huh. He had to keep himself from sneering at the man, if only because he didn't want to get any reproachful glares from both Bruce and Steve. He looked almost normal, apart from the fact that he wore a skintight black latex-y _thing_ and a huge, billowing red _cape_. With an enormous standing collar. Christ, who wore a cape in this day and age?

Apart from his terrible sense of clothing, this _Dr. Strange_ (he asked himself it that was a fake name or not, it was almost as bad as Dr. Doom) looked rather normal at first sight. He seemed to be somewhat older than Tony, his black hair already starting to turn white at the temples.

His stance and his figure-hugging outfit, however, left no doubt that he was anything but an old man. He projected authority and power, and had the vitality of a man in his prime. He didn't look like one of those usual charlatans bragging about their incredible powers. On the other hand, you could never tell. Still, maybe it would be a good idea to not go ahead and antagonise this man just yet. He offered his hand for a shake.

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Strange,” he said, plastering on his media smile. “Please, why don't you have a seat?”

Dr. Strange shook his hand with a firm, but not uncomfortable grasp. He didn't smile, however.

“Mr. Stark,” he said in a measured manner. “I have heard much about you.”

“Just like any other person on this planet, then,” Tony grinned back, “and please call me Tony.”

“I do not gather my information through tabloids,” Dr. Strange replied, raising one eyebrow to express just how he felt about the kind of “journalism” that had Tony as one of its favourite subjects. “I have much more reliable ways of learning what I need to know.”

Without any further ceremony, he turned towards Steve, and shook his hand, as well.

“Mr. Rogers. It is a pleasure to meet you, the man out of time.”

Steve smiled a little bitterly at the address Dr. Strange had used, but still greeted Strange with his usual politeness.

The suck-up.

*

Natasha exited Fury's office, not sorry to leave Fury and his phenomenally bad temper behind her. Not surprisingly, he had been livid hearing what had happened. He didn't particularly care about Stark himself, but he knew well enough that this would cripple the team. The Captain would not allow Stark in the field as long as they didn't find out what had happened, but he also wouldn't leave him behind by himself. Stark would try and ignore the Captain’s orders, and there would be the usual inevitable fight between him and the Captain, and it would be a huge mess. And if the Captain actually managed to successfully bench Stark, it meant that the team would be reduced to three people. Probably because of that, he had immediately agreed to her suggestion to call for Thor, and had already made arrangements to contact him.

When she re-entered Coulson's office, Coulson and Clint were still there, only now certain mountains of paper had moved and been replaced by others. Coulson was looking through old records, as he had promised (but he only bothered with the hard copy ones, knowing full well that Tony had already hacked the digital S.H.I.E.L.D database by now). Clint, his body language slightly more relaxed than before, kept bothering him and making a general mess. He looked up when Natasha came in.

“And?” he simply asked.

“Thor will be contacted soon,” she replied.

“Great,” Clint said and stretched. “I just hope he hurries up. I'm hungry, I could really use some breakfast.”

“I'm sure the mess has something for you, Barton,” Coulson contributed. “Maybe then you will stop bothering me.”

Clint made a face.

“I've been leeching off Stark in the past few months, and now you tell me I should go eat _mess food_?” he complained. “I have more class than that now.”

Natasha didn't hide her snort. In Clint's mind, the only purpose of J.A.R.V.I.S was ordering lots and lots of junk food, as greasy and artificial as possible. In her opinion, that was just as bad as mess food, if not worse. She silently wondered if Clint would ever outgrow his frat boy stage. Probably when Tony finally managed to emotionally grow past a five-year old.

Clint, insulted by her snort, opened his mouth to protest, but in that moment, her mobile phone started ringing. Ignoring him, she looked at the display and answered the call.

“Bruce?”

*

Tony kept making faces while Dr. Strange poked at him with a variety of... _strange_ -looking objects that did not appear to have any practical use. (Tony's special brand of humour must have rubbed off on him, Bruce really needed a holiday soon.) Tony didn't seem to dare interrupting Dr. Strange's murmured incantations, but still had the need to express how uncomfortable this situation was making him, hence the faces.

After a long discussion which involved a lot of “Magic sucks and I don't believe any of this crap” on Tony's side, Steve finally managed to put his foot down and convince Tony that he should at least give Dr. Strange a chance. Bruce and Steve had left a still grumbling Tony in Dr. Strange's capable hands and retreated to a far corner of the room, where Steve was currently trying to explain the theory that Tony had come up with. Trying, because he kept getting distracted. He couldn't resist glancing in Tony's direction whenever he got the chance, and for once, he seemed to find Tony's obstinacy amusing. He was rapidly losing the fight against the huge grin on his face, and Bruce himself couldn't suppress a smile, either.

It was reassuring to know that Tony would always be ridiculous, no matter how dire the situation. It was just lucky that Dr. Strange didn't seem to be too offended by Tony's antics (or maybe he didn't realise that Tony was doing something).

A while after Steve had finally finished his explanation, Dr. Strange seemed to decide that he had poked at Tony for long enough, as well, and straightened up. He looked in the direction of Steve and Bruce, and gave a small nod.

“I fear your assessment of the situation is correct,” he slowly said.

Tony furrowed his brow in a way that both meant 'I know I am always right' and 'Are you kidding me right now?'.

“You fear?” he asked.

“To make the story short,” Dr. Strange answered, fixing Tony with a look that dared him to interrupt his explanation, “you have been possessed by an __ikiry_ _ō__. Although possessed is not the right word for it. Haunted? Pursued? It is, as you have correctly determined, a rare phenomenon when the essence of a human's spiritual power – their soul, as you would say – splits from its body and attacks its perceived enemies, driven by intense emotions that the host tried and failed to suppress.”

Dr. Strange fell quiet for a few seconds, before he started pacing through the room, speaking in an apologetic tone.

“Unfortunately, this doesn't really help us with the situation. I am well versed in ordinary cases of possession, such as demonic possessions. These are relatively simple. Once the possession has been confirmed, the demon has to be extracted from the host. Of course, this is not quite as simple as it sounds, but it is a rather straightforward business. In this case however,” he said, turning around to his audience, “the perpetrator does not take possession of the victim, but returns to its own body after the deed. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to trace it back to its origin. And as skilled as I am, I cannot do anything without the  _ikiry_ _ō_ present. I do not even know whether I would be able to do more than shield you from another attack, should I be present when it comes for you again. And it will come for you again, I am quite sure of that.”

Dr. Strange shook his head, clearly frustrated at his own lack of skill.

“I have never personally encountered an  _ikiry_ _ō_ before. They are rare, because it needs an extraordinary amount of negative emotions – jealousy, hatred, fear, loathing – that are suppressed for a long time to create enough power to involuntarily split the soul from the body. Most humans deal with their negative emotions in certain ways to get rid of them – sports, meditation, drinking,” his mouth twitched a bit before he grew serious again, “But in this case, for whatever reason, the emotions of the perpetrator have no outlet. They accumulate until they cannot be repressed any longer, and then they manifest in a way that cannot be controlled even by the perpetrator himself.”

Bruce could see Tony start squirming next to him, wanting to say something. Tony liked long-winded explanations only when he was the one giving it, preferably ones about technology and circuitry and machinery, and definitely not about magic, possession, and wandering souls. Bruce spoke up, stopping Tony before he could say something grossly inappropriate, as usual.

“So there is nothing you could do to help us?” he asked.

Dr. Strange smiled at him with slightly depreciating expression.

“I didn't say that. I might not be able to resolve the problem, but the least I can do is give you temporary protection. And I also might know who can help you. As I said, this is not my usual area of expertise, but fortunately, I know many others who practice the mystic arts. Usually, this would be a problem because the person I am speaking of lives quite far away from here, but I don't think distance will be a hindrance for you, Mr. Stark.”

“So where is this _mysterious_ person then?” Tony asked, unimpressed.

Dr. Strange smiled again.

“Why, in Japan, of course.”

*

Bruce sighed. Of course it had been foolish to hope that Dr. Strange would manage to help Tony immediately. But at least he was right in one respect – distance was no problem for Tony, since his company owned several private jets that he could use at his own discretion.

“So... Japan, huh. I guess I better call Clint and Natasha to hurry up, then,” he said, reaching for his cell phone. Tony made an undignified noise.

“Do you think I need all of you to hold my hand? I mean I am willing to give the dear doctor here the benefit of the doubt and believe that there is someone with _mystical powers_ that can get rid of this ghost – spirit – whatever you want to call it. And I'm also willing to believe that he was serious when he just said that he could provide me with temporary protection, so I'll be perfectly fine on my own, no need to get anyone else involved!” he whined.

Steve put his _I-am-Captain-America-and-you-will-listen-to-me-son_ face on.

“Tony, do you really think we let you wander around alone while this... spirit is still out there?” he asked.

“But Steeeebe...” Tony started with a pout on his face. Tony's pouty faces were usually quite effective, but definitely not good enough to change Steve's mind while he was on Captain America mode.

“We will come with you, you will behave yourself, and you will _definitely_ not sneak off, Tony, or the spirit will be the least of your problems,” Steve said with a stern face. “Discussion over.”

Tony still pouted, but he didn't try to talk back. Bruce booked it as a success, and waved his phone.

“If that's decided, them I'm going to make the call now,” he said, and left the living room.

*

“Bruce?” Natasha asked.

“Hey Natasha,” came Bruce's tinny voice over the speaker. “The good news: we have a lead. The bad news: we have to go to Japan. How are things with Thor?”

“Japan?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow in Coulson's direction. “What are we going to Japan for? Thor should arrive soon.”

“Good,” Bruce replied. “An acquaintance of mine knows someone in Japan who might be able to help Tony. Someone seems to have some kind of freaky grudge against Tony, and that has manifested in their soul separating from their body and attacking Tony. It seems to be a rather difficult problem to resolve, so we're going to need the help of a 'specialist' or something.”

“Specialist of what?” Natasha frowned.

“A specialist of some kind of mystic art, don't ask me, I only do meditation, not magic,” came the somewhat amused answer.

Natasha could hear Coulson sigh in the background. She wondered if he sometimes thought the same thing that Maria Hill had told her earlier.

_You're more trouble than you're worth._

But no matter how annoyed he was, he always had their backs.

“I take we're going in one of Stark's jets?” he asked. “How soon can we leave?”

Clint stared at Coulson with a surprised expression on his face.

“What?” Coulson frowned. “Did you think I would let you loose on Japanese soil without supervision? I'd like to think I know better than that.”

“Coulson asks when we're leaving,” Natasha coolly conveyed to Bruce.

“Errr... I don't know yet, but I doubt it will take Tony long to get his plane ready,” Bruce answered.

“We will wait for Thor's arrival and come over as soon as we can. Clint and I both have an emergency bag in our rooms, so we are prepared. Make sure you guys are ready, as well. Until then,” Natasha said, and cut the line.

Coulson and Clint both looked at her expectantly.

“Sooo, why the sudden trip to Japan?” Clint asked.

“Someone seems to have one hell of a grudge against Stark,” she grinned.


	5. Lightning and Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers plus Coulson have decided to look for help in Japan. Thor finally makes his grand entrance. Someone has been forgotten and is NOT happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader,  
> would you look at that? A new chapter after almost one year of radio silence! While it has been a wonderful year, I had a very bad case of writer's block, and I haven't done more than 500 words of creative writing since I published the last chapter. I finally managed to write something, and it may not be very good, and it may not be very long, but I'm proud to finally publish this chapter. If you read this and like it, you make me a very happy person. If you read this and don't like it, drop me a line, I could really use some constructive criticism.  
> Also, please note: I started this work before Iron Man 3, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Thor: The Dark World, and I won't integrate any of that in this story. I used Steve's new haircut from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, though. Hurrhurr :D
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading this.   
> Love, Kuro

By the time Natasha and Clint returned from S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, Dr. Strange had already finished his business and left. He had given them clear instructions where they were supposed to go (although the only person who needed to listen to _that_ was J.A.R.V.I.S), and had also contacted his 'specialist' colleague to inform them that Tony and the rest of the band were coming. After he had finished with that, he had put a protection spell on Tony, which Tony was decidedly _not_ happy about. But he wasn't up for another confrontation with Steve, and definitely not with Bruce, the traitor, so he stayed quiet (or as quiet as he ever got) and suffered through Strange's mumble-jumble.

Tony was still pouting when J.A.R.V.I.S announced that Natasha and Clint had returned, and that Thor and Coulson also were with them.

“What does Coulson want?” he asked, pulling a face. He was looking forward to seeing Thor again, because Thor would be _nice_ and _fun_. Coulson, however, would pull one of his I'm-not-really-laughing-at-you-but-really-I-am faces, which was all kinds of _annoying_. Coulson might seem all uninteresting, bland and _responsible_ on first sight, but he was just really good at making fun of people without them ever realising it. Tony suspected that Coulson secretly delighted in making the new recruits for S.H.I.E.L.D underestimate him and then giving them the beating of their lives and showing them their place. He also suspected that Fury not only approved of that, but indirectly supported this system by assigning as many newbies as he could to Coulson. And people called Tony Stark a prick. Ha.

Bruce looked at him, and then slightly lifted an eyebrow.

“You're not really thinking that S.H.I.E.L.D would let us wander around in a foreign country without a nanny?” he asked. “That's basically asking for an international incident.”

“I told you I can take care of myself, I have been travelling all over the world for my company for more than a decade,” he answered petulantly, crossing his arms.

“Yes, exactly,” Bruce answered sarcastically, “That's why newspaper headlines like 'Tony Stark publicly...'”

“Ooooh, are we really going there, Mr. 'I-broke-Harlem'?” Tony quickly interrupted Bruce, trying to steer the conversation into a different direction when he saw Steve's eyes narrowing and watching the two of them like a hawk. “Newspapers write a lot of crap, and as far as I know, I am neither responsible for an international conflict nor a war. And the military has only tried to shoot me down once.”

Bruce just opened his mouth to reply (probably with something _mean_ , Bruce had a surprisingly mean streak when he wanted), when the elevator dinged and the rest of the boy band stepped out of it.

Thor looked good. Decidedly better than he had the last time they had seen him, though that might have something to do with the fact that all of them had had to fight against a innumerable army of aliens and Thor had been (back)stabbed by his dear brother. He stepped into the room, and immediately filled it with an aura of confidence, strength and sincerity. Tony understood very well why people would follow this guy into battle or even to the end of the world without a second of hesitation. That was simply the kind of person he was.

“It is a pleasure and an honour to see you again so soon, my dear friends!” Thor boomed. “Let us have many fine adventures!”

“It's great to see you again, too, hammer guy,” Tony grinned. “I'm sure we'll have one or two 'fine adventures'. I feel a strong sense of duty to show you the wonders of 'Midgard'.”

Bruce just rolled his eyes.

“It's good to see you again, Thor,” he said.

“Thank you, Doctor Banner, I am pleased to see you are faring well,” Thor replied with a big smile. Then he turned over to Steve and asked, “My friend, you look different! I must say this hair suits you!”

Steve smiled slightly embarrassed.

“Thanks, Thor, I thought I'd try something new. Keeping up with the times,” he grinned. “Yours has gotten even longer. I always wonder how you manage to fight without it getting in the way.”

Thor laughed.

“Well, my friend, we always wonder how you can be comfortable with such short-shorn hair. A grown man should not wear such boyish haircuts, but it seems that the men of Midgard think otherwise. It truly is a fascinating place!” he replied.

“If I may interrupt your beauty talk,” Coulson suddenly inserted, “I think we have more important things to discuss at the moment.”

Clint only sniggered in the background, and whispered something in Natasha's ear. Coulson shot them a stern look, but the two only smirked at him.

“Thor, you already said you won't be much help here,” Coulson stated rather than asked.

Thor fixed Tony with an intense gaze.

“I fear so, dear friend. Magic was never my weapon of choice (unless you count my hammer), and I have never really mastered its intricacies. My brother would be much more helpful than me, but we cannot ask for his aid at this point in time,” Thor said and sighed heavily. “I am very sorry.”

Tony shook his head.

“Don't be silly Thor, it's awesome just to see you again!” he said with a grin. “I'll be okay.”

“I do hope you will be, and I will do my best to protect you from harm,” Thor replied sincerely.

“Awww, you make me blush,” Tony teased. Clint gave him a rather ungentle nudge.

“Stark, stop spouting nonsense and grab your stuff, we're leaving now,” he said. He and Natasha had somehow managed to sneak out, grab their emergency bags and return in what seemed a matter of seconds. Steve appeared next to Clint, and handed Tony a bag and the suitcase that contained his suit. Tony looked at them for a second, confused. Since Dr. Strange had been busy waving strange objects in his face, Tony hadn't had time yet to pack anything.

“J.A.R.V.I.S. told me what to pack,” Steve said with a sheepish expression on his face. “I think he knows better than you what you will need.”

“Mr. Stars-and-Stripes, you doubt my ability to pack some undies and socks? I am _hurt_ ,” Tony joked, and clutched his chest dramatically. “I might not recover from this one.”

Clint hit him on the back of his head and then followed Natasha and Coulson to the elevator. Tony smiled at Steve slightly apologetic before making his way over to the waiting elevator. The air plane was already waiting, and soon they would be on their way.

*

When they reached the garage, they quickly got in the already waiting black van. Tony tried to snatch shotgun, but Steve unceremoniously steered him towards a seat in the back. Before he could even open his mouth in protest, he found himself squeezed in between Bruce and Steve, the doors were closed and they were already driving off. Tony felt a _tiny little bit_ like he was currently being kidnapped, and promptly voiced that opinion. Clint, the ass, only snorted and said:

“I don't get why anyone would want to kidnap you. The money is not worth listening to you talking your head off. You probably wouldn't shut up even if they gagged you.”

Tony only stuck his tongue out at Clint. He might be many things, but 'mature' had never, ever been on that list. Speaking of mature...

That was the moment his phone started ringing. He didn't have to take a look at the display to know who was calling him. Speak of the devil and all that, he should have known someone would rat him out (he suspected it had been Natasha, she really loved to make him suffer). He hesitated for a moment, but then decided to take it like a big boy and get it over with.

“Pepper, darling, how are you?” he asked with his best 'everything-is-alright-no-funny-business-going-on-here' voice.

“Tony,” came the sharp answer. “Would it kill you if you could tell me when you're in trouble ONCE in your life?”

“Actually, yes, I think it would,” he quickly answered. “Kill me, I mean. The pain is already starting, ouch-”

“Tony,” she said, in a tone that clearly stated she was having none of his shit right now.

“Pepper,” he begged, “my dear darling Pepper, light of my life, you know I can't do that, and you're the CEO now, you know you have better things to do than worry about stuff like that, everything is going to be alright, I promise, I will buy you more shoes so _please_ don't kick me in the balls, I think I still need them for a bit.”

Pepper was quiet for a moment. When she started speaking, it was very deliberate.

“Tony,” she said. “Yes, I am the CEO of your company. And as the CEO of your company, I need to know when you run into some kind of problem, because if something happens to you, your company needs to deal with that. However, and more importantly, I am also your friend. When something happens to you, I worry. I also worry something _might_ happen to you, even when you're doing fine. Me, and also Rhodey (I'm sure you haven't told him either), _want_ to know _immediately_ when you're in trouble. Why don't you understand that for us, it's much, much worse to learn later on that something happened to you and you never told us about it, than you telling us you're in trouble and might need help? We are your _friends_ , Tony, and worrying about you is a thing that friends do!”

Tony didn't know how to reply to that. (Sniveling into the phone was definitely below his dignity.)

“Sorry, Pep,” he finally croaked. “You know I love you.”

“I love you too, Tony,” she magnanimously replied. “And that is why you will tell me when something bad happens immediately, or I will really kick your balls with my best Louboutins. I will be nice this time and inform Rhodey for you, and YOU will listen what your teammates tell you for once. Behave. And come back soon, okay?”

“Yes, Pepper,” he said, “You really are my favourite, you know.”

“Rhodey might not be very happy about you saying that,” she said (but he _totally_ heard the smile in her voice), and hung up.

Clint and Natasha sniggered, and he glared at them.

“I know it was you who snitched on me, Natasha,” he growled, “no Christmas presents for you this year.”

“We'll see about that,” she replied serenely.


	6. The Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are finally headed to Japan, and Tony's 'little' problem will be resolved soon and without any further incident. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter, and there is some actual plot! *gasps* I finally arrived at the interesting part! Please bear with me, I promise a lot of stuff will happen from here on (^_^;) 
> 
> Also, I'm struggling a bit with continuity since I wrote the first four chapters a year ago. I'm trying to keep things straight (har, as if), but I'm not sure I'm succeeding...

The flight itself was calm, but somewhere along the way, a dark mood begun to settle over all of them. At the beginning, Thor and Steve had been exchanging stories about the curious and sometimes humorous experiences they had had in this world that was new to both of them. Thor was endlessly inquisitive about everything, even though he often had trouble grasping concepts that even Steve had grown up with. Steve, on the other hand, seemed happy that for once, it was him in the position of the teacher, and he patiently answered to all the questions Thor had, with some backup from Clint, Coulson or Natasha when he realised that his knowledge wasn't sufficient.

Steve's eyes kept straying towards Bruce and Tony, however, compulsively checking that Tony was still okay. The two of them were sitting alone in a corner, Tony almost forcefully trying to keep up a lively conversation with Bruce. He had already assured all of them repeatedly that 'his little problem' would be resolved very soon, and that since they had already come all the way, they should do some sightseeing in the Kansai area and maybe also make a short visit to Tokyo, to get some shopping done.

Natasha suppressed a sigh. All of them were on edge, condemned to idleness during the flight as they were. Tony tried to keep up the good mood they had been in when Thor arrived, but she could see the manic energy building in his core. He was used to dealing with problems by confining himself in his workshop and clanging around, and while he was an excellent liar and deflector (especially when it came to lying to himself), he had been antsy and erratic ever since Pepper had called. He didn't really like it when people reminded him that he mattered to them and that they worried about him.

One after another, they fell quiet, everybody hanging after their own thoughts. Coulson and Clint were communicating by ignoring each other and studiously avoiding any kind of eye contact. Bruce was nodding off, while Tony kept fiddling with his phone, the control buttons by his seat, anything he could get his hands on. Thor was staring out of the window, probably wishing to fly on his own. Since Steve didn't have to pay attention to what Thor was saying any longer, he had started to focus solely on Tony, continuously watching him with a crease in his brow.

Natasha decided to ignore the rest of them for the moment, and watched the clouds float by her own window. Tony had always been very vocal about his hatred of magic, but since the events in New York, it had become a bit of a raw point for all of them. With the exception of Thor, all of them had grown up in a world where people fought each other with either physical or psychological weapons. Natasha had learned to deal with these from an early age, and she was confident that she could overcome whatever someone tried to throw at her.

Magic, however, turned everything she had ever learned upside down. It had its own rules, ones she didn't understand. Could this matter really be resolved with a simple visit to Japan? She couldn't help feeling uneasy, and her teammates seemed to be agreeing with her.

*

When they landed at Kansai International Airport, all of them were relieved to finally get out of the strained atmosphere inside the airplane. Once they stepped outside, a black van similar to the one they had rode to the airport was already waiting for them, so they quickly climbed in.

“Okay, it will take about one hour and a half to get to Kyoto,” Tony said, taking out his phone. “Which reminds me, J.A.R.V.I.S, did you make a reservation?”

“Affirmative, sir,” came the answer from Tony's phone. “I have managed to make a reservation at Hotel Kanra Kyoto, a rather small, centrally located hotel with an excellent reputation. It has a very modern design, but is heavily influenced by traditional Japanese architecture, just the way you like it, sir.”

“Aww, J.A.R.V.I.S, you know how to treat a girl,” Tony smirked.

“I will keep that in mind, milady,” J.A.R.V.I.S drily replied, making Tony laugh. Trust on his A.I. to lighten the mood. He turned towards the others.

“So, darlings,” he said. “What do you think, hotel first or business first? And no, Cap, your opinion does not count, you always say responsible things like 'business before pleasure', which I find frankly insulting. I'm all for mixing business and pleasure.”

“Honestly, Tony,” Bruce inserted. “I think we're all with Cap on this one. We shouldn't delay if we can do it right now. Since we're already here, we should try Kyoto cuisine (it's excellent), but I don't really think we're going to enjoy that if we have to fear you drop dead any moment.”

Tony snorted.

“Democracy, never been much of a fan,” he said in a derisive tone. “I really should become an evil overlord, maybe people would finally stop telling me I'm wrong all the time.”

“I doubt Pepper would be cowed by something trivial as you becoming an evil overlord,” Bruce sneakily replied, and all of them burst out laughing, imagining Tony-the-evil-overlord being chastised by Pepper. Tony had to agree, Pepper would definitely make a better evil overlord than him any day.

*

Kansai International Airport was an unusual airport built on an artificial island out in Osaka Bay, so they had to cross the water to get to the mainland. The van then followed an expressway, leaving the sea behind, but always driving through densely populated areas. After a while driving northwards, wooded hills became more prominent, and started to line their field of vision. For a short while, they could see the replica of an old Japanese castle on a hill, or a flash of a wooden pagoda of some Buddhist temple here and there.

Steve and Thor kept craning their necks, taking everything in with the enthusiasm of a child on a school trip. Coulson, Clint and Natasha, on the other hand, seemed to be completely unimpressed. Tony guessed they already had had several (probably unofficial) visits to Japan each. Bruce had, courtesy of his alter ego, been in so many places he probably couldn't count any more, and seemed to be lulled to sleep by the houses and buildings passing the car windows in a regular rhythm more than anything.

Steve made a surprised sound when he noticed that after they had arrived in Kyoto City proper, the streets had become straight, and the streets formed a grid.

“I thought Japanese cities were wildly overgrown, but this seems very planned out to me?” he asked.

“You're probably thinking of Tokyo or Osaka,” Tony answered absentmindedly. “Kyoto was constructed as a grid when it was founded, and they managed to keep it that way over the centuries, despite all the other changes to the city.”

Steve nodded, impressed.

“You know a lot,” he half stated, half asked.

“The Japanese, especially the people from Kyoto, are VERY proud of their history, and they will enthusiastically explain every tiny little detail to you at any given opportunity,” Tony explained. “Especially if you're trying to do big business with them. They will drag you to every single place where anything even remotely interesting in their long and varied history has happened.”

“That doesn't sound so bad,” Steve replied, tilting his head a bit, as if trying to figure out why Tony didn't sound too enthused. Tony let out a small laugh.

“Oh right, I forgot you're Captain History, you'd love that,” he smirked. “And you'd probably drill them with so many questions that they'll be happy when they finally get rid of you. Remind me to take you on my next business trip, so I can proudly present Captain America to them to take on their sightseeing tours, while I go and enjoy the Japanese cuisine. I'm sure they'll love it. They'll sign the contracts with tears in their eyes!”

Steve made an appropriately appalled face and said primly: “Using Captain America to secure business contracts? I didn't think you'd stoop down to that level, Tony!”

They all laughed, and Tony felt that slight elation that he always felt when he once again realised that Steve did not only have a sense of humour, but also liked to mock his Captain America personality.

_Howard, you ass,_ he thought, _how could you go on and on about Captain America and then leave out this tiny but rather important detail?_

On the other hand, Tony liked to imagine that Howard had never actually had a chance to enjoy Steve's particular brand of wit, and had never told Tony about it for that reason. Thinking that his father had never known this side of Steve made him somehow feel like he had won. It was a very childish feeling, sure, but who had ever accused him of being a responsible adult?

Lost in his own thoughts for a moment, Tony hadn't realised that the car had taken a turn to the left, and started when the engine suddenly stopped. Coulson looked at all of them, his usual neutral expression firmly in place.

“Lady and gents, we have arrived,” before opening the car door.

*

The place they had arrived at was a tiny shrine nestled in between more modern buildings just off one of the larger streets of the city. At the entrance, there were two large archways made out of stone, something that Tony explained to Steve and Thor was called a _torii_ and was usually found at the entrance of a shrine. Behind the second one was an open gate, and Steve looked momentarily confused because the doors and the lanterns framing them featured a huge five-pointed star reminiscent of a pentagram.

“It's actually a symbol for protection,” Bruce quickly explained. “Remember what Dr. Strange said? The name of the shrine, Seimei Shrine, comes from the person that is enshrined here, Abe no Seimei. He lived approximately a millennium ago, and was famous for being exceptional at exorcisms, warding off evil spirits, divination and other spiritual skills. The five-pointed star is closely associated with him.”

Steve nodded to show that he remembered, but he didn't look particularly enthused about all the strange symbolism (understandable, if you had a habit fighting Nazis and other crazy people that had an unhealthy attraction to potentially magical symbols).

Coulson, Natasha and Clint, on the other hand, had completely ignored the _torii_ and the stars, as well as the other paraphernalia on the temple grounds (for some reason, there was a small statue of a _peach_ ), and had fanned out to inspect the perimeter.

Tony passed by Bruce, Steve and Thor, who were still standing close to the entrance, taking in the sight of the small, but very well-tended buildings of the shrine, and chatted up the first person that looked like they belonged to the shrine in fluent Japanese. Bruce grinned. He didn't know exactly how many languages Tony spoke, but considering that Tony had the unstoppable urge to talk everyone he met to their grave, he must be speaking more than a few. The shrine attendant nodded after a short talk, bowed slightly to Tony and hurried towards a side entrance of a building on the right side of the temple grounds.

After a moment, the attendant returned, followed by an elderly lady, who immediately started to talk to Tony in a polite but hurried manner, and discreetly steered him towards the entrance. Steve, seeing that Tony was being escorted to the building, vanished and was stuck to Tony's side a second later. Bruce let out a small sigh, and gestured Thor that they should follow. These two, honestly.

The three others followed them at a slower pace, making sure that everything seemed normal and no strange people were roaming the area. It couldn't hurt being a bit careful, especially since they were prancing around with two enormous blonds, a world famous engineer/industrialist, and a gorgeous red-head who stuck out like sore thumbs in this small shrine populated mainly by the average Japanese citizen, even out of their uniforms. Bruce was just glad that Clint abstained from climbing the roofs of the adjacent buildings to 'check things from a distance', as he liked to do. That usually didn't go over very well with the owners of said buildings and/or the inhabitants of apartments in the field of vision of their rooftops.

They were led to a small entrance area inside, where they had to remove their shoes, and were led along a hallway to an almost empty room at the back, where they were asked to take place on cushions on the floor. A different woman hurriedly came in an served them all a cup of fragrant green tea, while the older lady that had led them inside excused herself and left the room.

Tony had assumed his public personality and was the picture of relaxation, sipping his tea, even though the Avengers knew him well enough by know to see how nervous he really was. Steve, still keeping close to Tony, was watching him with the usual knit in his brow that was quite similar to the one he had when he was annoyed or confused, but only manifested itself when he was around Tony. Thor and Bruce himself had chosen a place at the back of the room, Bruce to keep out of the way as much as possible, Thor so he had a good view on what was going on. The other three split up and took strategic places near the sliding doors that lead out into the hallway and into a tiny garden on the other side.

It didn't take long for a rather young woman in formal wear to arrive. She bowed to them when she entered, and introduced herself to them as a specialist in exorcisms and spiritual protection in relatively fluent, but heavily accented English. She then continued to excuse her bad manners, but since this was such a pressing issue, she would immediately start with her work. Tony smiled a bit more genuinely at that.

“Really, that's no problem, since that is what we're essentially here for,” he replied lightly, waving his hand in a 'go right ahead'-motion.

She only nodded and then went to the front of the room, gesturing for Tony to sit in front of her while she arranged the things she would be needing. Tony went wordlessly, and the others kept quiet as well. The tension was almost tangible, and it was easy to read everyone's mind: Would this solve the matter?

*

Before the girl started with her ceremony or exorcism or whatever, she had shortly tried to explain what she was going to do, but Tony had almost immediately tuned out. It was bad enough that he had to resort to magic to solve this problem, he really didn't want to have to bother about the logic of it, as well. He figured there was nothing he could do about it right now, so he would simply sit here and keep his mouth shut until everything was over. (That part was already problematic enough as it was. Tony Stark and keeping his mouth shut, hah.)

At first, it didn't seem so bad. Really, all he was required to do was sitting still, everything else was provided by his 'exorcist'. She had told him to close his eyes and relax, so obviously he couldn't see what she was doing. But the Avengers were here, so it wasn't like this was something to worry about (right?). She kept chanting something, but he figured that even the average Japanese wouldn't be able to understand what she was saying, it sounded a bit strange. He tried to relax and let his mind wander, thinking about a repulsor upgrade he was planning to make, and maybe he should really make a better TV, as he had jokingly promised Clint? They already had StarkPhones and StarkPads line-up, but no StarkTVs yet. He made a mental note to look into that more closely.

He was so concentrated thinking about the possibilities of a StarkTV, that he didn't realise at first that something was off. There was a low sound, like a house settling, just before the floor started to shake. Taken by surprise, he opened his eyes and pressed his hands to the floor to keep his balance. The girl, sitting directly in front of him, looked just as surprised as he probably did. That was the last thing he would see clearly for a while.

The shaking stopped for a very short moment, before there was a huge crash and a shriek that might have come from a harpy or something similarly unsettling, and a shudder went through the whole house. Something came along the hallway with impossible velocity, and the sliding door was ripped open violently. Tony turned his head to see what was happening, but he was suddenly engulfed in a strong wind, before something grabbed his ankle painfully, and dragged him across the floor into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note: Seimei Shrine is an actual place in Kyoto, and Abe no Seimei was an actual person as well, but anything else is a product of my imagination :D


	7. Twilight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something bad has happened to Tony. The question is only what exactly 'something bad' is.
> 
> Unsurprisingly, a lot of confusion ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a pain to write. It had been planned from the very beginning, but actually putting it down on paper was SO frustrating. ;_; Any input is highly appreciated. (I have a tumblr now! Find me under kurowrites.tumblr.com! I have no idea whom I should follow, so I could use some suggestions~!)
> 
> Also, the tags have been updates, in case you noticed. Yay!

When Tony regained consciousness with a jerk, he was lying on an unknown surface, almost completely surrounded by darkness, the only source of light the faint glow of his own personal built-in nightlight. His brain, helpful as usual, assaulted him with all the lovely memories he would really prefer to forget – Afghanistan, Obie, New York and his little trip to space.

“J.A.R.V.I.S?” he croaked. “J.A.R.V.I.S?”

Only silence answered him.

_Fuck, don't panic, you're not in a cave, nor are you in outer space,_ he started his usual mantra, _let's think, what is the last thing you remember? Did you get drunk? Where were you?_

For a moment, he was utterly disoriented. He couldn't remember where he had been last. Fuck, where _was_ he? He automatically started looking for his cell phone, but the pockets of his clothes were empty. (Also, not wearing the suit, check.)

“ _Nani bibitterunda?_ ” an unknown voice behind him asked.

Tony started badly. What was going on? What had the voice said?

_Wait,_ he suddenly realised,  _I know this! Japanese! That's right, I was in Japan!_

He slowly sat up and turned around, trying to make out who was talking to him. He couldn't really see more than a dark form in this damn semidarkness, the light of the arc reactor weak through the shirt he was wearing. He stared for a moment, before he realised that the figure he was looking at seemed a bit... small? Approximately the size of a child under the age of ten, if he had to guess. Looking a little closer, the impression held up. He was sitting in the dark with a child?

“What are you afraid of?” the child repeated its question. Tony decided it really must be a child, since even the voice sounded like one. Was that a reason to worry or a reason to be reassured now? He wasn't so sure with which option he should go.

“Where am I?” he asked back. “Am I still at the shrine? What has happened?”

The child tilted its head.

“Shrine?” it said, with a wondering tone. “This is no shrine.”

Oh great.

“Can you tell me where I am, then?” Tony enquired.

“Why would you not know where you are?” the child asked instead of answering his question. Tony felt a spike of panic and annoyance run through his body. He really, very badly needed to know where he was, and where his teammates were. His thoughts were muddled, and he had a hard time piecing together what had happened before he ended up in this place. His brain, completely unhelpful, only reminded him of that scene in 'The little Prince', where the pilot meets the prince for the first time. Somehow, this child's reactions reminded him of that scene. Would it also start asking for a drawing of a god-damn sheep next?

“Well, you know, I was there, I lost consciousness, now I am here,” Tony snappily replied. “I'm unsure of the details in between.”

The child made an understanding noise.

“Oh, so you're from _there_ ,” the child said sympathetically. “People from _there_ are always so confused.”

Wait, _what_? Tony was officially lost now. He had no clue why the child had latched onto the word 'there', he had no clue where he was or what had happened. Had he been kidnapped? This was sounding more and more like a nightmare by the minute.

“Hey, buddy?” he rasped. “Mind doing me a favour? Can you come a little closer? I can't really see you from there.”

The child considered his request for a moment. Then it started shuffling closer. It murmured something about obviously and bad senses. Well, _sorry_ for not seeing well in this bad lighting.

Finally, the child had drawn close enough that the dark silhouette dissolved into an actual person. Tony had been right, the child was a boy below the age of ten, with black hair, dressed in a boy's kimono with greyish blue stripes on dark blue ground. He would have looked almost normal, if it hadn't been for the fact that his eyes seemed to be startlingly green, and reflected what little light managed to penetrate the darkness, flashing whenever he moved. And... wait a second, were those _slit pupils_?

*

After the noise and the shaking had finally stopped, a shocked silence hung over the room. Everything had returned to just how it had been before the shaking started, nothing broken or out of place, the door carefully closed. The only difference was that Tony had vanished. Or rather, it seemed, been pulled out of the room by some unknown force, and none of the Avengers had been able to do even the smallest thing about it.

Steve and Thor looked absolutely shocked, and Bruce definitely _was_ green in the face. Clint and Coulson could hide their shock a little better, but Natasha knew them well enough to see it in their face (she probably couldn't quite hide her own agitation as well). The girl who had been doing the 'exorcism' was positively shaking, any colour drained from her cheeks.

Natasha, who had been sitting closest to the door, slowly reached out and carefully opened the door. She peered out, always ready to react to a possible threat, but the hallway was completely silent and empty. Steve, finally recovering from his initial shock, suddenly sprang up and pushed past Natasha out into the hallway. Thor was just behind him. They ran in both directions, looking for any sign of where Tony could have vanished to. Natasha could hear them run around and open and close the sliding doors of other rooms, but after a while, they returned, Steve looking a strange mixture of very frightened and absolutely furious. He zeroed in on the still shaking girl immediately.

“What just happened here?,” he asked, the shaking in his voice indicating that he was trying very hard not to shout. “What happened to Tony? Where is he?!”

The girl, suddenly the focus of five Avengers and one agent, shrunk back, shaking even harder. It looked like she was two seconds away from a crying fit.

“This... this is... I didn't know,” she stuttered, starting to cry in earnest. Then she suddenly gathered herself, sat up and pointed straight at Steve's chest. “The problem wasn't him, it was you!”

Steve's face went slack.

“Excuse me?!” he squeaked.

*

Tony was back to reciting assurances to himself. He still had no clue where he was, but now he had a creepy _animal boy,_ or whatever this was, staring at him unblinkingly (contemplating his next meal?). Why was it always him getting stuck with the really crazy stuff? This was not what he had signed up for when he started with this whole superhero deal. He had simply wanted to get rid of the weapons he had created and unleashed on the world, not _magic_ and _aliens_ and _things that appear human but are not_.

_This would be a nice moment to give up on sanity and go completely bonkers_ , he thought to himself. At the same time, however, he could feel his stubbornness settling in. Tony Stark, lying on the floor and giving up? He had always emphasised that he  _was_ Iron Man. Time to prove that. 

He gathered the pathetic rests of his courage together and stood up. It was a shaky business, and he felt awful and weak, but in the end, he was standing. The boy still stared at him with those eerily expressionless eyes, but didn't show any signs that he was really planning to make Tony his next meal.

Tony stared back. Questioning hadn't helped, time for a more direct approach.

“I need to go back where I came from,” he stated.

The boy tilted his head in an approximate 'I am listening'-gesture.

“I want you to show me how I can go back to where I came from,” Tony continued.

The boy seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he nodded.

“I could do that,” he said.

“Then start with explaining exactly where I am, and why I am here,” Tony demanded.

The little boy considered this as well.

“You people from over _there_ don't actually know that _here_ exists,” he finally deigned to answer. “We don't wander in between as often as we used to. I don't think you were meant to end up here. I think you got lost.”

Tony felt a nerve starting to twitch in his face. Nothing this boy said made the slightest bit of sense. Also, little boys did _not_ talk like that. He felt like screaming, but that wouldn't really help him, would it? (Look at him being all grown up and shit.)

“If I bring you back, can you do me a favour?” the boy suddenly asked.

“What kind of favour?” Tony asked back.

“I don't know yet, but I guess there will a time come when I will,” the boy mused.

Tony rolled his eyes and promised he would do him the favour when 'the time came'. Anything to get out of here. If he didn't like it, he could always try to bargain (hel _lo_ , he was Tony Stark, this was one of the things he was _good_ at).

*

“What do you mean, I am the problem?” Steve asked, still completely shocked.

The girl, hiccuping because of her earlier crying fit, glared at him until she had calmed down.

“It was not his fault he was attacked by the _ikiry_ _ō_!” she revealed. “He was attacked because of you! _You_ are the real target of the grudge, _he_ was attacked because he is the person closest to you!”

Bruce was still sitting at the very back of the room, trying hard to keep calm and not hulk out. They had enough problems as it was already, adding a Hulk demolishing Kyoto and its invaluable temples and shrines to that list was a definite no-go.

However, at the moment, it seemed more likely that it would be Steve that was going to do the hulking out. The sudden accusation by the exorcist had left him completely blindsided. Bruce knew very well how Steve must have been feeling at the moment. He was intimately acquainted with the feeling of guilt that came with all the destruction and harm that the Hulk caused. Even more so when it caused harm to people he loved (which happened way too often).

While Steve was still reeling from the shock of the knowledge that _he_ was apparently responsible for this whole mess, Clint inserted himself into the discussion.

“So, what exactly should we do now? How can we get Tony back?” he asked.

The girl shook her head.

“You cannot get him back,” she whispered. “At least not with how things are right now.”

“What else are you suggesting to do then?” Clint countered sharply. “Sitting here and drinking tea, waiting for who knows what to happen to him?”

The girl ignored Clint's rudeness, and turned once more towards Steve.

“We need to solve your problem first,” she told him. “If we don't we cannot help Mr. Stark in any way. Even if we were able to bring him back here, the moment he returned he would be in extreme danger again.”

Steve looked angry and frustrated ( _welcome to the club_ , Bruce thought), but he nodded.

“What do I have do to?” he asked her, with the expression of a man who prepared himself to go through the flames of hell, if necessary.

*

The 'animal boy' had told him that he would bring Tony to his _obasan_ , his aunt, who would be able to show him the way back _there_. Tony wondered what kind of aunt this was, if the child was already so strange. But this chance was better than nothing, seeing as the boy was guiding him through complete darkness (the boy with ease, Tony shuffling and struggling – but hey, nobody here to see and judge).

After the first disorientation of waking up in a unknown place had faded, and the shock of meeting someone that was somehow not quite human had started to abate (for the moment, maybe he had only gotten such a shock he had become completely numb), he started to get bored. There was nothing do to other than following the small boy and staring into the darkness. Tony's mind, used to constant stimulation, started show withdrawal symptoms. How long was this going to take?

“Hey,” Tony called out. “Do you happen to have a name? Otherwise I'm going to call you 'Tiny'.”

The boy turned his face back to him for a moment and stared at him with his judgemental animal eyes. Like a god-damn fucking cat.

“They sometimes call me Kuro,” he said.

Tony snorted.

“What, like _kuroneko_ , black cat?” he snorted. “Worst pet name ever.”

“Exactly like that,” the boy answered, and turned around again.

Tony stopped dead for a moment.

“Wait,” he sputtered, “ _Are_ you a cat?”

“I guess you could say that,” came the answer back.

Tony couldn't see Kuro's face, but he was pretty sure he could hear a grin in there somewhere. Well, fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things:
> 
> Kuro's name: Yes, the boy's name is Kuro, which comes from kuroneko, the Japanese word for black cat, and is a very common way of naming black cats in Japan. It always struck me as a bit cruel to name pets by their visual traits, but in this case, it seemed actually very fitting, as you might find out later on. My name is also Kuro, but that actually has nothing to do with Kuro the Cat. Rather, the name was inspired by a friend who herself was a great inspiration to me. I was unsure whether I should really name the cat Kuro or not, because it seemed a bit silly at first (seriously, I was not my intention to name a character after myself), but I couldn't think of a better name, so it stayed in the end.
> 
> ikiryō: An ikiryō, in its most basic definition, is the spirit of a living human being separating from the body, doing things that the person itself is unaware of. I already mentioned the most famous case of an ikiryō in Chapter 3, Lady Rokujō, and there is a short and very bad explanation by Dr. Strange in Chapter 4. Also, I noticed that I wrote ikigami in Chapter 4 for some reason. That is very, very wrong, and I corrected that mistake.


	8. Parade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony follows the 'cat' and ponders his fate. The Avengers also worry about Tony's fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anger and frustration are apparently good for inspiration. I've written this in one single day, so I'm not quite sure whether it's really good or not (also I don't know if writing when frustrated is a particularly good idea). Since it's already written, however, I might as well upload it.   
> Feedback is, as always, highly appreciated.

Following Kuro-the-apparently-cat through the darkness left Tony with a lot of time to wonder whether he had really made the right choice or not. In essence, he had latched onto the very first thing he had seen in this place, like a little hatchling. He still had no idea where he was, or where they were going. He had no idea what had happened to his teammates, if they were okay or not. He also had no idea why Kuro had conveniently found him just when he had woken up and having a very slight panic attack.

On the other hand, he guessed he had relatively little choice but to trust that Kuro was helping him. They hadn't met anyone or anything else since they had started their trek through the darkness, and Tony had lost all sense of time and direction somewhere in between. He had already checked his wristwatch – it had stopped, but he couldn't make out why (repeat, _he_ couldn't make out _why_ ). His mobile phone had disappeared completely, just like anything else he might have had in his pockets. In essence, apart from the clothes, shoes and wristwatch he was wearing, he had absolutely nothing in his possession.

So yes, he had very little choice. Either keep on following this strange boy who was also somehow a cat, or wander around in the darkness on his own. Speaking of darkness – was it just him or did his surroundings just get a little brighter? And this wet feeling... was that fog?

Tony observed his surroundings more carefully. Yes, he determined, it seemed like it wasn't as dark as it had been previously. Also, the hollow feeling he had had wandering through the darkness was disappearing. Had he felt like he was walking through an empty, sound-insulated room before, he could now hear gravel scrunching under his feet, and the cool, wet air was slowly drifting past him, making him shiver a bit. He had quite obviously ended up somewhere outside, which was still miles better than ending up in a cave or a prison, despite having no clue where he was.

In front of him, Kuro suddenly stopped. Tony opened his mouth to ask what the problem was, but Kuro pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. Tony tried to make out what Kuro had seen or heard, but as he had noticed before, Kuro's senses were obviously much better than his own, and he could neither hear nor see the slightest thing.

Kuro, on the other hand, had apparently detected something he didn't like, and started pulling on one of Tony's sleeves. Tony tried to pull away, but Kuro only latched on and started pulling harder.

_Oh_ , Tony realised, _he wants me to crouch down._

He wasn't particularly happy about that development, but as he said, what choice did he have? The possibility that he would get into trouble either way was rather high, so he decided to just roll with it. He crouched down next to Kuro, who silently placed one of his hands on Tony's forehead as soon as he was able to reach it.

Tony was immediately hit by a wave of nausea and his vision blurred. It felt like he was unravelling at the edges, and he almost fell face down into the gravel. Kuro, however, was deceptively strong and easily kept him in his crouching position, one hand on his shoulder, the other still firmly attached to his forehead.

Tony wanted to complain and tell Kuro to stop it, but he felt that if he opened his mouth now, all that would come out of it was vomit. So he kept his mouth determinedly closed, and took a deep breath.

A few moments later, the feeling of nausea started to abate, but his vision remained blurred, like there was some veil separating him from the rest of the world. Then it struck him. There really _was_ a veil separating him from the rest of the world (or rather, separating him and Kuro from the rest of the world), because Kuro, that damn cat, was apparently not only not human, but also a magic user. And he was currently using magic on Tony. He started to struggle in Kuro's grip, but that only earned him a stern glare, almost on par with Captain America's 'stop being an idiot'-glare. And Tony had been the target of Captain America's version of that glare so often he was basically conditioned to respond to it automatically.

As soon as he stopped struggling, he could hear something coming closer through the fog. Tony wasn't sure if it was because of Kuro's magic, but the sounds that he heard were strangely distorted, and he couldn't identify its source at all. He strained his eyes to see, but the fog and the strange veil of magic made it difficult to see anything. After staring into the fog like an idiot for a short while, he could make out some movement in the corner of his eyes. He couldn't really turn his head because Kuro was stuck to him like a leech, so he tried to wiggle around to get himself into a better position.

There was definitely something coming closer. It was still rather dark, so all he could make out was a dark shape wobbling in the fog, dispersing into various smaller shapes as it came closer. The strange sounds also became louder, and Tony could feel goosebumps running down his back. Bad ghost stories always tell you about the scary sounds that accompany ghostly sightings, like scratching, howling and metallic screeching, and Tony had always scoffed at these descriptions. The sounds he was hearing now, however, were definitely very close to what he had previously laughed off, and it wasn't so funny anymore. Something deep inside told him that whatever was drawing closer to them was something he wouldn't want to go toe to toe with.

Kuro was also looking towards the blurry shapes slowly moving through the fog, and he seemed to have similar feelings than Tony. The closer they came, the more Tony could feel him tensing up. Slowly, the figures came more into focus, or as much into focus as they could with that blurry veil in between.

What he could see was an exceedingly strange sight. Several dozens of things he could only call creatures were wandering through the fog, and no two were the same. Some looked vaguely human, but with pallid skin, awkwardly angled limbs and grotesquely proportioned features. Some of them had horns, others were carrying weapons, and still had gruesome festered wounds instead of limbs.

There were also other creatures that looked somehow like everyday objects, furniture or instruments, but they moved on hairy legs, eyes placed on some surfaces, rolling around in their sockets. Since these creatures did not really seem to be made for moving around, the gait of most of them was strangely aimless and stunted.

Quite a few also seemed to be animal-like, but walking on their hind legs like a person, and wearing human clothing. Some were dressed properly, others seemed to have randomly chosen a few pieces of clothing and put them on with little care (and on the wrong body parts). The worst part was that they didn't look like normal, healthy animals, but had distorted, ragged features and stunk to high heaven.

Here and there, there was something passing by that didn't come into focus, but rather seemed to blur when looking directly at it. Those... things were more like a moving shadow, and their shapes were just as volatile.

Tony was kind of repulsed, but at the same time, he couldn't stop looking at them. He had thought Kuro was strange, with his intensely green cat eyes? Well, Kuro certainly had nothing on _these_ guys. It was like the drawings of a madman that had sprung to life. Luckily, because of Kuro's magic, they didn't seem to notice Tony and Kuro standing close by, and slowly passed them before disappearing in the fog once more. Tony suddenly felt very glad that he had followed Kuro's command, and didn't dare to move an inch. If he met these creatures again in his next life, it would be too soon.

*

The girl, who had finally been introduced as Sawako, had calmed down and started talking to Steve in a more collected manner. Natasha and the rest of the Avengers (plus Coulson) had left the room they had been in for a short while to sweep the perimeter once more, even though it was quite clear that they probably wouldn't find any trace of Tony. Still, it was a disappointment to actually find no trace of Tony at all. They also checked the car, where they had (reluctantly) left their weaponry, but their weapons as well as Tony's suit were all accounted for.

Clint immediately dove for his bow, gripping it like it was an amulet that would protect him from evil powers. Natasha couldn't really blame him for that, because to be honest, she also felt a lot better once she had finished equipping herself with all her guns and knives. She knew it was psychological more than anything else – weapons would be of little help against their enemy. Still, being armed also came with a particular state of mind, and that, if not the weapons, might help them during whatever was going to happen from now on.

Once they were equipped, they returned to the room where Sawako and Steve still remained. Natasha had taken the artist's portfolio that contained Captain America's shield with her, while Bruce had decided to carry Tony's suitcase suit with him for now. Steve smiled at Natasha gratefully when he saw that she had brought him his shield. It was widely known that Captain America and his shield had a very intense relationship with each other, and getting between Cap and his shield was _never_ a good idea. Even Tony, who tended to get away with a lot of things, was only allowed to touch the shield in Steve's presence. Well, to be honest, Natasha could understand Steve. Who knew what kind of 'improvements' Tony would try to add to the shield once he got it into his hands. She had no issues giving Tony her weapons, since better weapons were always a thing she desired, but to Steve, his shield was much more than just a weapon that needed improvement.

She handed the portfolio over to him and then sat down next to him, listening to Sawako. It was strange, listening to her speaking about completely outlandish things like they really were very obvious and common. She explained to them that human emotions were a very dangerous thing ( _that_ Natasha already knew), and that they were able to cause very physical harm and destruction when they weren't in control. She spoke about revengeful ghosts and living people whose spirits, unable to control their emotions, separated from their bodies to commit a deed their conscious minds were not capable or willing to execute.

Steve nodded at this point, noting that both Tony himself and also Dr. Strange had said things of that nature. Sawako nodded and said that their assessment had been correct, and that the perpetrator in this case really was an _ikiry_ _ō_ , the spirit of a human being that held a lot of negative emotion suppressed inside, and relieved that tension by separating from its body. It must be a powerful one as well, being capable of finding Tony so far from the place he was originally staying at, and waiting for the right moment when he was unprotected to strike. It was also an especially devious one, since Tony wasn't really the target of the grudge, and Steve hadn't been anywhere near Tony at the time it happened. That was also the reason why she hadn't realised that it wasn't really Tony that was affected at first. There was simply no indication at all that it had had any connection to Steve. During the kidnapping incident, however, Sawako had apparently 'seen' the true connections. Steve tried to question her about it, but she had trouble to explain it properly.

She then further explained that to bring Tony back successfully, they couldn't simply make another exorcism. They needed to actually locate the perpetrator, otherwise it would be quite possible that the _ikiry_ _ō_ would really kill Tony, since they did not know yet what had happened to him. Natasha noticed that she carefully avoided mentioning that there _was_ the possibility that Tony was already dead. Judging from the tension in Steve's jaw, he had as well.

Natasha knew full well that Steve still felt guilty for his childhood friend Bucky's death. Could he stomach the knowledge that he was indirectly responsible for another friend's death? She was very well aware that out of all of the Avengers, Steve and Tony had built the most unusual bond, and that it would probably break Steve completely to lose that.

Natasha banned these thoughts out of her head. What they had to do right now was locating their opponent. And the way to do so, apparently, was to ask Steve highly invasive questions to see if they could find any hint of some person potentially holding a grudge against Steve. The only trouble here was that the list of people potentially holding a grudge against Steve was very, very long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sawako's name: Since I'm already in the process of stealing names, Sawako's name was 'borrowed' from one of my friends, who is actually named Sawako. It's not a very common name, but I liked it immediately when she introduced herself to me for the first time, so I decided to used it here.


	9. Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, still following Kuro, finds enlightenment in several different ways. Steve is also looking for enlightenment, but it's a bumpy ride. 
> 
> Also, there is a lot of staring going on in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, I've managed two things:  
> First, this fic has now more than 20K words, making this the longest story I have ever written.  
> Second, I started this fic last year, and then had a break of nearly one year before I published the fifth chapter. Now, with the ninth chapter, I've finally written more this year than I did last year. I'm so happy I've managed to persevere, and I am determined to finish this story, good or bad. 
> 
> I would really like to thank all the people who are still reading this. I write this for completely egoistic reasons, but if there is anyone that actually likes reading this, thank you, you are awesome and brighten my day. ^_^
> 
> If you'd like to, bother me on tumblr! You can find me under the username kurowrites. :3

Kuro waited for a long time before he detached himself from Tony and let the veil surrounding them disappear. Relieved, Tony collapsed on the ground as soon as Kuro finally allowed him to move. He had started getting muscle cramps for staying in that uncomfortable crouching position well before the last of these strange creatures had vanished in the mist once more.

“What the fuck was that,” he gasped, looking up at Kuro. Kuro stared back down at him, considering his words.

“A night parade?” he finally answered, playing around with the seam of his sleeves. As before, his answer was totally unhelpful. This time, however, Tony could hear a question mark in Kuro's answer. What was it with that boy? It didn't seem to Tony like Kuro was stupid or purposefully unhelpful, but rather than that, Tony had started to gain the impression that Kuro did not know how to deal with Tony's questions at all. It almost seemed like Kuro had never before needed to explain all the things that Tony asked him about. Unfortunately for Kuro, Tony was definitely the wrong person to train his skills on. He suppressed a sigh and a curse, and got up.

“Well, if it's over now, can we please go?” he asked Kuro. “I think we've been hanging around here for long enough.”

Kuro nodded to that, and continued leading him through the twilight, purposefully following a route that made only little sense to Tony. His surroundings did become steadily brighter though, and after a while he started seeing plants and trees as he passed them by, the fog receding bit by bit. A little further, and the fog cleared up enough that he could see hills to his left that gradually grew into mountains, and a river to his right followed by a plane, before the land grew hilly once more in the far distance. Had the ground been gravelly before, they now walked through grass, slowly steering towards the river while trying to find the most comfortable route unhindered by steep slopes or groups of trees that were scattered here and there.

When the sun finally rose behind the mountains, Tony was compelled to stop walking for a moment and watch the spectacle unfolding in front of him. With the first beams of the sun, the last remains of the fog still lingering around the riverbed slowly rose into the now crisp morning air and disappeared, and this place that had still frightened him mere moments ago came alive in the most vivid of colours.

The dewdrops on the grass and the leaves of the trees glimmered like emeralds in the first rays of the sun, interspersed with tiny, vibrant droplets of flowers in all colours of the rainbow. The river happily gurgled and sparkled in his bed, its water clear to the very bottom, little red and blue fish busily zipping around in the stream. The mountains were overgrown with thick dark green bushes and trees, the highest tops bare of vegetation and snow-capped, a blinding white where the sun was reflected by the snow. The sky lost the colourful hues of dawn and became a striking, electric blue, little fluffy clouds lazily wandering its vast expanse like a herd of sheep.

Kuro had went ahead a little, but once he realised that Tony wasn't following him any longer, he had stopped and turned around. Tony paid him no mind, too busy to take in the sight in front of him. There was not trace of human inhabitation or influence at all. No roads, no bridges over the river, no traces of logging in the woods, just plants and animals in abundance. Did such a place still exist in today's globalised world? Tony couldn't remember having seen anything like this before. This landscape, although the polar opposite of the scene he had witnessed in the billowing fog earlier, was just as strange as everything he had encountered since he had woken up, not knowing what had happened to him.

_We're not in Kansas anymore, huh, Toto_ , he thought wearily.

*

The first questions about his work as Captain America and the villains he encountered were easy to answer for Steve, but when the topic started to get more private, he was blushing all shades of red. Coulson had already forcefully removed Clint from the room because he wouldn't stop sniggering, and Thor had respectfully followed them out into the garden. They had left open one of the sliding doors, and Bruce could see them wandering through the garden from where he sat. Clint and Coulson were bickering, but Clint had a huge grin on his face, so Bruce assumed Coulson had mostly done it to make Steve more comfortable (and maybe so he didn't have to listen). Natasha hadn't left the room with them, but she had relocated and had joined Bruce at the very back of the room.

She and Bruce traded a meaningful look. Steve was definitely no saint, but he also wasn't someone to kiss and tell. Especially not if the person who was currently asking very, very invasive questions about his private life was a young woman. Steve was doing his best to give answers without actually answering the questions, which seemed to vex Sawako quite a bit.

“Mr. Rogers, you are doing your best to NOT help me,” she finally pointed out, annoyed.

Steve made a conflicted face.

“I really don't think that telling you all about ... _these kinds_ of things will help you in any way,” he admitted.

“I will be the judge of that,” she answered with an air of finality.

Steve's expression grew mulish. Next to Bruce, Natasha rolled her eyes before she got up and pulled Bruce along with her. She walked to the front of the room, and hit Steve on the back of his head, before steering Bruce towards the door that lead out into the hallway.

“ _Talk_ ,” she ordered Steve. “I saw a convenience store earlier. Bruce and I will go and get some snacks.”

The threat ' _If you haven't resolved this by the time we return, you will suffer_ ' was left unverbalised, but it was very clearly implied.

*

There was a house. Tony felt like crying. After walking through the dark for so long, he had been completely disoriented. Then, when he finally regained a sense of sight and direction, he realised he had ended up in a completely unknown place. Mountains, rivers, bugs and birds were not the orientation aids Tony normally operated on, and he was getting exhausted and cranky. He couldn't find a single trace of human inhabitation anywhere, but now, finally, they had arrived at a house. It wasn't a very modern house, but rather in the style of old Japanese farmhouses, the walls mostly consisting of wooden panelling, with a thatched roof and a small porch with sliding doors. But it was a house.

Kuro was directly headed for the house, checking at regular intervals if Tony was still following him (he had been doing so since the first time Tony had abruptly stopped, apparently worried that Tony might get lost). Kuro didn't seem to be the least bit tired, but Tony had started to get exhausted and terribly bored. Seeing the house now, the promise of rest and food proved too tempting to resist following Kuro like a puppy going for his favourite treats. Which was a funny thing really, since it never happened when he was at home, working in his workshop. Then, rest and food seemed like a hassle and an unwanted interruption more than anything else.

A few steps further, and they arrived. The house had something like an entrance, a wooden door on ground level, but Kuro steered towards the back, where he left his _geta_ on a flat stone and stepped on the elevated porch without hesitance. Tony considered this for a moment, but then he decided that shoes or no shoes, he was basically at the mercy of Kuro and whatever was waiting for him behind these sliding doors anyway, and left his own shoes outside.

The moment he placed his shoes next to Kuro's, something struck him. _When he had been 'kidnapped', he hadn't been wearing his shoes._ But now he was. On the other hand, the complete contents of his pockets were missing. Tony took a deep breath and tried to ignore the knot of panic that hardened in his stomach. It would be alright, he would make it out of here, and everyone would be unharmed. They would laugh and joke about it (later on), and Steve would call him and idiot and fight with him and Tony would maybe apologise for once. Natasha and Bruce would both glare him into submission. And Clint would wrestle him into submission. Thor would probably be the nicest(?) of them all and simply hug him until every bone in his body was broken. This was going to be alright.

He stood up, and ignored Kuro's curious gaze. Quite obviously, he didn't understand things like people having panic attacks, as well as proper human interaction in general (not that Tony was able to cast the first stone there). He signalled Kuro to go ahead (something the little cat seemed to understand, for once), and Kuro opened the sliding door.

“Oroku?” he called. “Are you home?”

A female voice answered almost immediately.

“Kuro! Come in, come in! What a nice surprise, you haven't visited me lately, I was getting lonely!”

“I'm sorry about that,” Kuro mumbled, and then, after shuffling his feet for a bit, he added, “I brought a visitor.”

“Oh, how rare!” came the delighted answer. “Bring them in, bring them in! Visitors are always welcome here!”

Kuro turned towards Tony, and Tony, bracing himself, entered the house.

*

Tony needed a moment to adjust his sight, since the lack of actual windows made the inside of the house quite a bit dimmer than the landscape bathed in sunlight outside. The house wasn't very big, but it was cozy, well tended to, and not cluttered. A woman was sitting on the straw mats in the far corner of the room, surrounded by books and papers.

If Tony had to guess, he would say she was approximately 30 years old, but because of her unusual attire, it was really hard to say. She wore a chequered kimono in different hues of blue, held together by a broad sash with a geometric pattern on red ground. Her hair was combed back into the same style a woman starring in a samurai film would have.

So this was Oroku, Kuro's 'aunt', Tony thought. Unlike her nephew, she seemed pretty normal, once you ignored the clothing and hairstyle. No weird eyes or any other animalistic traits.

She smiled at Tony.

“Ooh,” she rejoiced. “Now I see! A very rare visitor indeed!”

And then her neck elongated, and her head, still smiling, flew towards him. Shocked, Tony jumped backwards, right into the sliding doors behind him. He heard a crack, and clumsily fell out of the house onto the veranda, where he landed on the sliding doors, inadvertently mangling them completely. For a moment, he just laid on top of the broken rests of the sliding doors, too stunned to move.

“Kuro!” Oroku chided. “Didn't you tell our guest? Look at the poor thing, how scared he is! Oh, what am I going to do with you!”

Kuro pouted and ignored her. Instead, he stepped out on the veranda and looked down on Tony.

“That was really rude,” he told Tony. “You broke the doors.”

Tony, still stupefied, looked up at him, heart hammering in his ears (this lying on the ground and staring up to Kuro business seemed to be becoming a bad habit). For a moment, he was completely calm, before he finally felt a switch inside of him flip, and a wave of white-hot anger washed over him. The Hulk would probably be proud of him. He was screaming before he knew what he was doing.

After it was over, he couldn't really remember what exactly he had said. Nothing nice, that much was sure. Kuro stared back at him, his eyes flashing a dangerous hue of green (Hulk green, Tony's mind graciously supplied), and Tony was pretty sure he would be torn into itty bitty shreds right there and then. But then, Kuro took a step back, turned around, and ran away with the speed and the flexibility only a cat possessed. Dumbstruck and confused, Tony sat in the middle of the destroyed sliding doors and wondered for the umpteenth time what the hell was going on here.

*

There was some shuffling inside, and after a moment, Oroku stepped out on the porch. Standing up, dressed in her kimono and with her neck retracted once more, she was a striking sight. Not the most beautiful woman Tony had ever seen, but someone that turned heads wherever she went because of her presence rather than her pretty face. Even if Tony hadn't just seen her elongating her neck like it was the most normal thing in the world, Tony could sense that this was not an ordinary person. She seemed calm and elegant, standing on the porch, but there was something in the air that made you think twice about angering this lady. Tony wasn't afraid of her anymore, tough. The shouting just before had completely exhausted him, and he just didn't have it in him to feel even the slightest bit panicked.

“I'm terribly sorry,” Oroku said with can apologetic face. “I did not mean to surprise you. I forgot Kuro tends to omit the most important parts.”

Tony only looked at her with an expression that clearly spelled 'you don't say'. She sighed and turned towards the direction in which Kuro had disappeared to.

“He has always refused to change,” she told Tony sadly. She made a short pause, and then carried on. “You have realised by now that we are not quite human, but you seem confused as to where you are and what _we_ are. I don't know how to explain it to you eloquently, but you have entered a realm that is very different from the one you come from. We are interconnected, but you humans have mostly forgotten about this connection. Kuro, on the other hand, is very much part of that connection – it's something he cannot escape from.”

Tony allowed himself a bit of time to turn this over in his mind. Apparently, people over here had a thing about not stating things quite so clearly. It seemed that Oroku had immediately realised he was human, and knew where he came from. It was also quite clear that he had ended up in a place he was not supposed to be in. He needed to find a way to get back. And, considering Oroku's comments about connectedness, she might be able and also willing to help him. His situation seemed to be looking up, Tony realised with relief.

“What is the deal with Kuro?” he finally asked.

Oroku smiled at him like one would when a dog had successfully mastered a trick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Night Parade, or Hyakki Yagyō or Hyakki Yakō, as it is known in Japanese, is an actual thing. The stuff I wrote is my own interpretation, but the basic idea is from this famous scroll: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Hyakki_Yako_1.jpg
> 
> If you do some extreme reading between the lines, you will realise that Tony comes from north-east when the sun goes up and he walks towards Oroku's house. In traditional belief, this is the direction bad influences come from. xD I could make a really stupid joke that Tony essentially IS a bad influence, but it's probably more that he was in a really bad place before. ;)
> 
> Describing plants and nature as if they're precious stones is something I totally stole from a sutra of Pure Land Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhists believe that if you call on Amida Buddha, he will come and get you when you die, and you will be reborn in the Pure Land in the west, where Amida will personally oversee your further Buddhist education, and guide you to enlightenment. Whoops, did I just imply that Tony died? That was not my intention. xD Don't worry, I would NEVER. 
> 
> Oroku is both inspired by a famous character from two kabuki plays who goes by the name of Dote no Oroku, and a famous yōkai that is called Rokurokubi and does the elongating head thing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokurokubi). ;) Dote no Oroku is especially awesome since in the play I have seen with her, she lets a snake crawl out of her kimono whenever the bad guys are threatening her. Naturally, the baddies are completely freaked out by that and nearly pee in their pants. Also, this is the image I had in mind when I wrote her: http://data.ukiyo-e.org/artelino/images/21078g1.jpg


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